Peaches & Cream
by appabend
Summary: [Anime-Sequel AU] Three months after the Archangel battle, the Devil realized that Ente Isla isn't as black or white as he thought, and his title as the Devil turned into utter meaninglessness. He attempts to convince other Ente Isla beings to stay, but with unexpected results... [Rated T ; WEEKLY SATURDAY!]
1. The Devil Realizes Something

A peaceful breakfast in the Devil's Castle occurred. For now, their menu was nothing but cooked rice and eggs. Nothing too particularly special that day and Maou was going to go for his usual shift at MgRonald's. Urushihara was still sleeping on the back, pretty obvious after knowing his habits right here. The talk was also very normal and nothing too concerning. That was until...

"Sire, are you serious?" Ashiya asked. "Are you going to abandon Ente Isla?"

"Eh, it's not really my problem anyway." Maou said. "I gave it some thoughts after what just happened three months ago with the Archangel stuff. I heard everything that he said towards Chiho and what he did towards Emi. It's pretty sinister, and I'm the Devil!"

"Well, I have no doubts that the Archangel is an evil man." Ashiya said. "But what are you suggesting?"

"I'm saying that the life in Ente Isla is probably not as black and white as you thought." Maou said. "We have a priest who becomes a bad guy, an assassin sent from a church that is not so good, and an archangel who is essentially a pervert. And now I'm here as Satan who is supposed to rule this world has to instead save it."

"Huh..." Ashiya scratched his chin. "I... never thought of it that way."

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that despite our powers and our titles, we're about as closer as to humans as we are." Maou said. "That's probably why we turned into humans when we first arrived here. Humans are just a core of what makes us to be what we are."

"So if we're not really the devils, are there any true devils?"

"I don't know." Maou shrugged. "Do you enjoy the life here?"

"I um..." Ashiya bit his lips. "Now that you asked it Sire, I have to admit I enjoyed my life right here. It was a lot less thinking and tiresome than Ente Isla. I don't have to worry how the heroes are going to attack the castle because nobody is going to attack the castle. Even if there is someone, we're going to be just fine. Is there something wrong with it?"

"Think about it." Maou said. "If we go back to Ente Isla, we have to be bothered with gathering every single army to invade every single human. It's going to be freaking tiresome, don't you think?"

"I... uh... yeah I suppose." Ashiya said. "But... what are we going to do then?"

"Well, I'm going to still be working in MgRonald's as assistant manager and you'll going to be here working as my servant!" Maou said. "Just like how we lived here as always, right?"

"I... yeah." Ashiya said. "I admit that is a possibility."

"So what do you say?" Maou said. "Are you accepting it?"

"I..." Ashiya sighed. "It's not that I didn't accept it, Sire. It's just that I find it surprising that you would pick up this decision. You are Satan, right?"

"Am I?" Maou said. "I mean all of the actions that I took right here, it wasn't so devilish. I saved this town twice in fact. I... changed. I mean can the devil be someone good? Am I Satan in-name only?"

"That is nonsense!" Ashiya said. "I've seen what you have done to Ente Isla. You're about as devilish as you can think of."

"Yes but if I am the devil, I would've done something bad here too." Maou said. "And I'm not interested. I really am not. I'm not up to destroying this world. What's the point? I don't want to get through Ente Isla all over again. Just think about it, Ashiya. It's going to be really tiresome recreating my own devil army again, assuming that they have devil powers. And it's going to be tiresome fighting the new heroes all over again."

"Well, I admit it is going to be tiresome."

"So just see it that way." Maou said. "I don't want to get through that. I mean I'm a manager of MgRonald's and I got to work hard on that one alone. Isn't this enough?"

"Well whatever the case might be, I will follow you anywhere Maou-sama." Ashiya said. "I highly doubt that you can convince the other, though."

"Well, it won't take long." Maou said. "I'm going to gather everyone else in the night. What time did Emi usually come in home?"

##

This was one of the first few times that Maou had to quite work himself out. Urushihara was kind enough to actually find him a genuinely better Dullahan. This bike actually had a backseat and basket wide enough to contain his daily supplies going to MgRonald's. The trip was a lot more comfortable and the ending was certainly worth it. He got to work in his favorite workplace while meeting up with the other employees as well.

The shifts went out fine. Chiho's work was actually improving. A lot less time on dropping those fries and a lot more time to actually shop in and serve the customers. Not to mention how the girl got famous for saying some stupid stuff on Twitter. SFC and MgRonald's had been in a steady competition. Both had their ups and downs, and both also had their customers.

"Anything unusual?" Maou asked.

"There's nothing much." Chiho said. "It's returning into a surprisingly normal day. I'm surprised that SFC actually got some customers."

"I looked it up on the internet. They're practically rivals." Maou said. "They all have buildings and shops right next to each other in every part of the country. Of course if they have MgRonald's here, SFC is coming around."

"We should probably go downtown sometimes!" Chiho said. "You'll see lots of MgRonald's and SFCs right next to each other everywhere."

"Well, maybe one time when we're out of the shift." Maou said. "After all, our last date... didn't end really well."

"Oh! You're right, Maou-san." Chiho said. "I wouldn't mind another date downtown! That would be wonderful!"

"Yeah, and a lot of time wasted much better than somewhere underground." Maou said. "Oh and by the time we finish our shift, I want you to come to my house."

"What's going on?"

"I have an important announcement to make."

"What!?" Chiho said. "Are you going to leave to Ente Isla?"

"What? No!" Maou said. "I used pretty much all of my magic three months ago. I can't really return it back, not that I wanted to. I don't think I'm going to come back to Ente Isla again."

"What!?"

"I'm going to stay here." Maou said. "Indefinitely."

"Oh I'm glad!" Chiho clapped both of her hands. "I'm so glad that Maou-san wanted to stay here! I don't really know how boring this world would be if you were not around."

"It would be a really boring world indeed." Maou said. "And you'd probably be quitting MgRonald's after a few days."

Chiho giggled.

##

Emi really had no more time to spare for the two... three devils that were staying on the so-called 'Devil's Castle'. The two story building that wasn't really much of a castle was built there so that people like him can be contained and indoctrinated on no longer attacking Ente Isla. In fact, this world had done a pretty good job on changing his overall attitude. Perhaps the credits have to go to MgRonald's, whoever made that freaking company.

Emi knocked in on the door leading to the apartment of the three devils. There was a chatter on the back and Emi couldn't help but to listen.

 _"It's probably Emi."_ Maou said. _"I'll get the door open."_

Maou went on to the door and opened it out for her. Surprisingly, instead of a scorn or a scowl or a skeptical looking face, he went on smiling, probably the brightest that he had ever given right to her. This really caught her by surprise, and the next few words could only increase the curiosity a bit further.

"I'm glad that you came, Emi!" Maou said. "I really thought that you wouldn't come."

"You're... weirdly happy." Emi said. "What's going on with you for the past months?"

"Not a lot." Maou said. "But let's be honest, I wouldn't tell you to go here if there something didn't happen."

"So something _did_ happen." Emi said. "Does it have something to do with Ente Isla?"

"Well, sort of."

"And are you coming back?"

Emi sharpened her eyes and was ready to throw in a few punches, but Maou put both of his hands up front and calmly asked her not to.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Maou said. "You should just listen for a moment, okay? Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Hurt can come in a lot of different ways." Emi said. "So is it going to hurt?"

"Well, that depends how you're going to take the news."

"What news?"

"The news that I won't be going into Ente Isla ever again."

That piece of brilliance got Emi by surprise, although her look was more condescending than surprised. She let loose a small giggle to express the ridiculousness of the news before Maou explained even further.

"I'm serious." Maou said. "I'm not going there."

"Why not?"

"I... like being here." Maou said. "I admit, life as a human sounds as pathetic as it looks, but I find it a lot more challenging than when I was fighting you. And after what I've seen from the Archangel and Olba, I just realized how much your side has been doing a lot of bad things too."

"I... what?" Emi said. "Did you just say that the angels are doing... okay I think you have a point there, but do you think that all angels are like that?"

"I don't know. You tell me." Maou said. "I was fighting an angel who was about to rain hell on this entire world. The real question that I should be asking is am I really the devil?"

"Wow, I can't believe that you finally got a shred of self-awareness."

"So you're saying that I didn't have one?"

"Well, you wanted to rule Ente Isla, but you never even thought about why." Emi said. "And did the killings of the innocent people absolutely necessary?"

"Hey, I apologized for that already."

"Don't apologize to me!" Emi said. "Apologize to the people whose lives you've been screwing around with! Those people in Ente Isla! My father!"

"From the bottom of my heart, I'm very sorry about your father." Maou said. "For the record, it's nothing personal."

"So it's just business as usual, then?"

"I would've said that to you back then." Maou said. "But right now, it's not. My business is in MgRonald's and this new life I have, and I'm going to maintain it. I moved on, Emi. I'm just asking you to do the same."

There was a little bit of a bewilderment from all of those words. Maou sounded very sincere, but then again he was the devil. He was just about as cunning as every evil creature on the face of this planet. And yet somehow his arguments were indeed convincing. She was conflicted in how to deal with this, but she was even more conflicted with the way he acted.

"Why me?" Emi crossed her hands. "Why ask me to move on?"

"Because what we are in Ente Isla and what we are now are completely different people." Maou said. "Maybe if you think it that way, you'd probably change what you think of me."

"You expect me to treat you with royalty?"

"I expect you to not throw a punch." Maou said. "If you can't move on, at least don't throw a punch at me."

Emi glanced her head down before coming into a decision. "I'm still going to keep an eye on you."

"Thank you, Emi!" Maou bowed. "Thank you!"

That bow was the strangest part of them all. That smile was even stranger. Not sure what had come into his head, but she was confident that there was something more to it than just this. Well, at least she was glad that Ente Isla isn't going to be under attack by the demon's regiment... or is it?


	2. The Hero & The Devil have a Common Enemy

_A/N: Uploaded Early. This is when things get real serious. Review is much appreciated._

##

C02: Another Common Enemy

Emi came into the apartment to greet up with others and have a dinner together. Suzuno always made the food together, and for the first time in history Urushihara got a chance to sit in with the rest of the crowd. NEET gotten him occupied as usual, but he cannot resist to have another food from Suzuno. It was at least better than what Ashiya brought him every single day, especially the jumbo pack. She had tried one of those. It wasn't great when being eaten constantly.

 _"Itadakimasu!"_

Everybody shouted as they begin to devour in Suzuno's latest feast. Emi took her chopsticks and split it up before starting to notice the food: _Katsudon._

"Suzuno always makes the best food!" Chiho said. "It looks so pleasant from the outside!"

"Thank you, good Chiho." Suzuno said, thankfully now with a more modern look although her way of speaking still stayed the same. "I'm grateful by your praise."

"We're celebrating our vow to stay here permanently." Maou said. "Obviously we're going to get something a little bit more."

"Oh, so it's a vow now?" Emi said. "I thought it was just an empty promise."

"Yeah, we're doing it this time." Maou said.

"I'm still not convinced." Emi said. "So do you have some kind of guarantee that you're going to stay here?"

"Well, that's exactly what I'm confused about." Maou said.

"Confused about?"

"His Majesty tries his hardest to convince you of this case." Ashiya said. "You should listen to him."

"I should listen to him because you say so?" Emi said. "You're nothing but a mere servant."

"How dare you say that?"

"Ashiya." Maou interrupted. "You're not helping if you're going to force it down on her. And besides, we're friends. Stop calling me sire. It's too awkward."

"Even for me, I find it incredibly unusual." Suzuno said.

"He's right, Ashiya-san." Chiho said. "Maou-san just asked you to be his friends. If you ask me, he asked you to be at the same level as him."

"What?" Ashiya widened his eyes and stopped his chopsticks midway. "Is that true, Sire?"

"Whatever." Maou said. "Just please don't do it in public."

"I will try not to, Sire."

Everybody groaned.

"Besides," Maou said. "Since Chii-san is the only one here not from Ente Isla, I've talked about this with the other people and we all seems to agree."

"I agree with Maou-kun." Suzuno said. "I have a feeling that there is something wrong with the church, in that someone inside is probably conspiring with each other or that this peace that you achieve might not be a peace that you deserve."

"What?" Emi shouted. "How can you just say that!? I've been fighting it for the whole life and you're just going to say that it's not going to be worth it?"

"If I ask to you good Emi, what's going to happen by the time the angels finish their battles with the demons?"

"We're going to get peace, of course." Emi said.

"I doubt that." Urushihara suddenly interrupted.

"You're the devil's apprentice here! You don't get to talk anything!" Emi said.

"This world has no literal devil in it and look at where we at." Urushihara said. "We just entered 2016. Aside from the constant blizzard, the world has an even bigger problem to handle."

"Why are you equating Ente Isla with this world?" Emi asked.

"Because your world also have humans in them too!" Chiho interrupted. "I know that I'm not the one who had the say in this or to tell about your world, but I've studied history and I know that my world got into the same trouble as you did countless of times before!"

"I think you've never heard of what the Japanese did with the Nazis." Urushihara said.

"The... Nazis?"

"You obviously don't. That's what Chiho-san is learning." Urushihara asked. "There's this major historical event called the World War 2 about 75 years ago. Japan was an Imperialist state, proclaiming to take over the world and unite it for their own. They joined in with the group called Nazis, Germans who literally put millions of people inside gas chambers."

"I was working on a school project with my friends about exactly that." Chiho said. "And my other friend is working on a school project about the conflicts in the Middle East. It was disgusting to know what people are doing in there."

"And what does that have to do with all of this?" Emi asked.

"It has to do with all of us here as humans." Maou said. "The most fascinating thing being a human is that you don't know what you'll be in this world. You'll either be the Angel, the Devil, maybe a little bit of both, but no matter who you are inside, it doesn't define who you are. What you do is what defines you."

"I think I heard that in a movie somewhere." Urushihara said.

"Not a good timing." Ashiya interrupted.

"So you wanted to be remembered as that guy who works out on MgRonald's?" Emi asked.

"It's better than being known as the devil who take over the world." Maou said. "I've been thinking about this all along. I think being a human gives me a chance to repent on my past mistakes. I want to do this. I want to become someone better."

"From the word of a devil, I doubt that I'm going to believe it."

"Even if you don't, I'm still going to stand by what I'm doing." Maou stood up from his seat. "Let Suzuno, Chiho, and everybody on this room be the witness of my vow. I will not step foot in Ente Isla. I will not become the devil and take over this world. I will do my duties as a human and I will be remembered as the proud employee of MgRonald's!"

That would've been an embarrassing speech if Maou wasn't known to be a demon previously, but he was very enthusiastic about this. Emi grew a little smirk on her face, but skepticisms were still engrained on her head.

"Well, if you're so enthusiastic about it, I'm not going to stop you from doing that." Emi said. "So do it as you wish. Just don't hurt anybody else in the process."

"Yes, Emi!" Maou said. "This vow shall live on until the day I die, and my friends shall follow me in the struggles and hardships of being a human!"

"Wait." Emi said. "All of you are on board with this?"

Emi glanced out at Ashiya first, who closed his eyes and made his statement.

"I'll follow Maou-sama wherever he wants." Ashiya said. "I have vowed to protect him and be on his side. I will not let him down."

"I will be staying on this world." Suzuno said. "I will find a respectable job and become a respectable human being. And your fashion advice is always admirable."

Everybody later glanced at Urushihara, who got noodles stuck on his mouth after Suzuno made that statement. After he got all of the noodles back into his mouth, he made his statement as well.

"I like it here." Urushihara said. "Being a NEET is freaking sweet."

"You're still going to need to find work or I'll kick you out." Maou said. "Anyway, we all agreed. So what do you think?"

Emi sighed. "Well, I'd be lying if I'm not skeptical about all of this."

"Nobody isn't asking you to be skeptical." Maou said. "We just want you to be accepting, that's all."

##

After a hefty dinner, everyone got to clean up their own dishes and their own food. Urushihara actually went the effort to actually clean up the place for a bit and chat up with the rest. Despite being a NEET and a little tad bit annoying as usual, he wasn't as annoying as the last three months proven. Even Suzuno who had the displeasure of keeping him in tab has to constantly bring him into speed. Emi had gotten herself into the middle of a rather weird family consisting of friends, allies, and enemies. She couldn't tell if it was a good thing or not.

"The food is amazing, Suzuno-san!" Chiho said. "I wish I can be a good cook just like you."

"Cooking takes quite the practice, dear Chiho." Suzuno said. "It takes a lot of patience and virtue, but also calmness and comfort. The first thing that must come into your mind is your food will be satisfactory. Otherwise, it will fail."

"Ah, interesting!" Chiho said. "Oh anyway, I want to share in some news. I have asked Manager Kisaki to give me permit for two days. I'm going to Kyoto."

"Eh?" Emi said. "What are you going to do there?"

"I'm going to visit my cousin." Chiho said. "It won't be long. I'll be sure to get back in here."

"Your cousin?" Maou asked. "Are you going to be long?"

"Don't worry! It won't be long. I promise." Chiho said. "It's just for a day anyway."

"Oh okay." Maou said. "Just be careful, okay?"

Chiho smiled.

"Hey, Urushihara." Ashiya said, glancing at the window facing the front door. "Did you just order in another package?"

"What, no I didn't!" Urushihara said. "I have my own bank account, remember?"

"Then whose van is that?" Ashiya pointed out outside, looking a bit suspicious.

"I don't know." Urushihara said, shrugging. "Must have been the neighbour's, right?"

Emi couldn't really have time to look at outside, but Ashiya looked a bit concerned. However, his face shifted from a concern into an even more suspicious looking eyes. Sharp eyes coming out of the old servant, and he was skeptical of what was coming.

"Ashiya?" Emi asked. "Is there something wrong?"

Just when she asked, his face went into a great shock. He jerked himself off of the window and shouted a word that nobody expected.

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!"

Ashiya went straight into the three females who were washing the dishes and pushed them off into the floor. All three groaned as Ashiya pushed them into the floor. Initially, Emi didn't really know why Ashiya did so, but that's when it all clicked.

For some reason, a barrage of what appeared to be machine gun shots were fired from the window. The window broke out, letting the bullets from the outside loose getting inside the Devil's Castle. The woods however, were surprisingly sturdy. Not a lot of bullets managed to penetrate the sturdy thing. Maou and Urushihara, who didn't have enough time to get down, ducked in as quickly as they could. Ashiya went out and pushed the wooden table as a cover, giving them a lot wider place to take covers in.

The barrage stopped, at least for about five seconds, allowing them to ask what in the name of god was that. God knows the consequences and the injuries that can be taken out of this.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Maou asked.

"I don't know, Sire." Ashiya said. "I saw suspicious men coming out of a grey van."

"Are you alright?" Maou asked.

"Ma... Maou-sama."

"CHIHO!"

Maou shouted as he witnessed Chiho, lying on the ground bloodied with gunshot wounds. There was too much blood coming out of her he wasn't even sure how many gunshot wounds entered her body. One thing for sure, a large chunk of them came out of her right shoulder.

"Dear god, Chiho!" Suzuno shouted. "Don't move her out. Keep her lying down! Get the first aid kit from my room!"

"I'll get it!" Ashiya said as he marched to Suzuno's room.

"I'll call the ambulance." Urushihara picked his phone up to call in emergency.

"We need to keep the bleeding out. Get me some cloth. Anything to stop the bleeding out! Hurry!" Suzuno said.

"Who the hell was that!?" Maou raged, heading right near the window and shouting his lungs out. "Come out, you cowards!"

Emi pulled Maou away from the window. "Are you crazy!? They're going to shoot you again! Just stay here. I'll check outside."

"What?"

Emi grabbed something out of her purse. Surprisingly it was a pistol, concealed rather easily inside her purse. She aimed her pistol to anything that was outside and Maou couldn't see what she saw. He pulled back and crawled towards Chiho, who was being treated by Suzuno by compressing her blood. Ashiya just came in with the first aid as well.

"How is she?" Maou asked.

"She's bleeding very badly." Suzuno said. "I don't think that she's going to be fine."

"Did someone called the ambulance!?" Maou asked.

"I did." Urushihara said. "They're coming. Don't worry."

"Make it quick, Urushihara!" Maou shouted towards him. "Do whatever you can! Steal a car or something! Just get her to the hospital!"

"They're gone." Emi said. "They're all gone. Who the hell are they?"

"Stay with me, Chiho." Maou said. "Don't do this to me."

"It was one bullet penetrating her right shoulder." Suzuno said. "Oh god. Blood is coming out of her mouth as well. She's in shock, but she's still breathing. Raise her head up a bit. Don't block the airway flow."

"Alright." Maou said as he raised her head slightly up to not block the airway.

Sounds of siren began to fade in. Emi checked in outside to see if that really was the sound of the cavalry.

"The ambulance!" Emi shouted. "Don't move her yet! I'll make sure if it is. Wait... yes it is!"

"Don't move her yet." Suzuno said. "Keep her in there. Wait for the stretcher to come."

Emi had dealt with this sort of situation before. She had a lot of people being stormed in by the demons and she saw innocent people die. This situation was like no other, but the moment it happened to Maou and his friends, there was nothing but despair. How come the demon lord acted like a real human and genuinely wanted to help another one in danger? This isn't the act of a demon, and Maou is dangerously side-stepping on the line.

Wait... did he just... cry?


	3. The Devil Suffers from Guilt

C03: An Evil Far Away

Three months for him to reconsider and three months for him to think about all of his decisions. Three months of being subjected into the warm comfort of human, being surrounded by the people he never wanted to interact with, it all caused him to become this. It all caused him to be one step closer to become something more than just somebody who wanted to take over the world. Was this world supposed to be a place to repent his sins? Were his sins deserved to be repented?

Only Emi, Maou, and Ashiya were able to visit in Chiho and follow in her conditions during the emergency run. Maou's vision was stuck on that emergency door, waiting for anyone to come to give news, any news would suffice no matter how incredibly hurt it was going to be. Emi sat right beside him. No matter how much comfort he needed, he probably wasn't going to need it anyway. All he needed was her, alive and well right in front of his eyes.

"Ashiya," Emi said. "Have you called in Chiho's family?"

"Huh? Oh right." Ashiya said. "I don't know their phone numbers, however."

Maou gave his phone to Emi without even saying anything. His face was still down, and his expression was blank. Never she had seen him to be in this way, at least not this blank and expressionless.

"Uh... okay." Emi picked the phone up and began the call. "Maou, I think you should talk to her. She... called you once."

Maou glanced at the phone for a bit. He was reluctant at first, but after glancing back at the emergency door, he picked the phone up and began talking.

 _"Hello?"_

"Hello? Is this Chiho's Mother?"

 _"Yes. Maou-san, right?"_

"Yes." Maou said. "Something... something happened to Chiho."

 _"What? What happened?"_

"She... she just got shot." Maou said.

 _"Eh?"_

"She's in Central Hospital now." Maou said. "She's going to receive surgery."

 _"What? What is going on? Who shot her?"_

"I... I don't know too." Maou said. "We were having a dinner in my house when people randomly shot us with machine guns."

 _"Oh... oh my god. Is she going to be alright?"_

"She got shot in the shoulder." Maou said. "We did our best to give her first aid before the ambulance. We're not sure how she's in right now."

 _"Alright. I'll be right there. I'll be right there."_

Maou closed the phone off and put it back to his pockets. The three remained in silence, waiting for the results from the doctors. And so a few seconds later, the doctor went in to deliver the news, just exactly as what he wanted him to be. Maou stood up from his seat to hear the news of her conditions.

"I'm honestly surprised by Ms. Sasaki. Her endurance was incredibly strong."

"Does that mean..." Maou said.

"She can definitely survive, but her survival would require some surgery."

"Does the surgery cost anything?" Emi said. "Does Emi have any health insurance?"

"Yes, but the details would require her parents or guardians to fill. I assume that you're her parents?"

"What?" Emi said.

"Eh?" Maou said. "No! We're not! We're just friends. I'm her co-worker in MgRonald's."

"Oh alright then. If you know their numbers, I'd suggest to call immediately."

"We have called." Emi said. "Thank you for your help!"

"She's resting now. She lost a lot of blood. I suggest you to visit by tomorrow-"

"I'll stay here!"

"What?" Emi said, glancing to Maou.

"I'll... I'll stay here." Maou said. "That is if you allow me."

"Only one person can stay in the night. You might stay here for a while, but you should leave."

##

Chiho was sleeping. Her left arm was connected into an IV. She was breathing through an oxygen tank. Her heartbeat was monitored. According to the doctor, it was beating so fast, probably to recover the loss of blood and get used to with the new transfused blood. All that remains was for her to wait until she was able to fully recover and up her consciousness. Emi was glancing at the window up the sky. Ashiya received a call from Urushihara, who was staying in with Suzuno to repair the damage and report it to the police.

"Any clues to who might did this, Urushihara?" Ashiya asked.

 _"The police have absolutely no clue."_ Urushihara said. _"This kind of terrorist attack is rare in Sasazuka, let alone the entire Tokyo. This is the first time we had this."_

"Anyone injured?"

 _"Well, both of us are alright."_ Urushihara said. _"And thankfully, the other neighbors haven't reported any sorts of gunshots. It seems like it's only exclusively on us."_

"How about the grey van?" Ashiya said. "Have you told them about it?"

 _"The police are looking out for the van, but no clues as of yet."_ Urushihara said. _"If you want me to find out who these guys are, I would really want to as well if only they didn't break up the entire computer."_

"They did what!?" Ashiya said. "As if they think we have the budget of a rockstar."

 _"But that doesn't mean that I don't have a theory."_ Urushihara said. _"Remember when you were working with the guys that just destroyed our budget I think about a month ago?"_

"No, _you_ destroyed our budget a month ago." Ashiya said.

 _"Yeah, sorry about that."_

"What about them?"

 _"If you ask me, I think they're working on something big."_ Urushihara said. _"I think they're just trying to give the message to not mess up with them."  
_

"But why now?" Ashiya asked. "We've dealt with them! They should've been gone by now!"

 _"I guess you can say that they have some really good friends that wanted to tie up loose ends."_ Urushihara said. _"But I'm not really sure why random shootings should be the answer for it. I mean if anything, it's going to attract attention."_

"Wait a second." Ashiya said. "Maybe it has something to do with Ente Isla."

 _"Unlikely."_ Urushihara said. _"Are you going to find it out?"_

"I don't know." Ashiya said. "Right now, I'm concerned about Maou-sama's state. Even if we find them, is he going to be alright?"

 _"Well, that's for him to decide, isn't it?"_

"Damn it. I hate to agree with you but you're right on this, Urushihara." Ashiya said. "And he's going to need to find it fast."

That's when Chiho's mom, Riho Sasaski, came in. The shock that came into Ashiya's face was downright unbelievable, all followed with Emi widening her eyes. Maou glanced back at Riho, and they noticed towards each other.

"Is she here?"

Ashiya didn't speak. Only a slight nod came out. He took a few steps back to let Riho came in to see her own daughter. That's when he covered up her mouth in shock, gasping on the poor state of what just happened. Riho ran towards Chiho, crying her lungs out on what just happened towards her daughter. She sat on the side, grabbing her daughter's arms and crying on it.

The sight of Chiho's mother grabbing her daughter's hand reminded her of the horrors that tormented her during the war with Satan. However, Satan was now there and he got the chance to feel the horror as well. Despite how controversial it might sound, she should've been glad that she got him some form of revenge, but this was distasteful especially considering that Chiho was just an innocent kid.

That's when Maou decided to get out of the room without even saying a goodbye. Emi noticed him and called him out.

"Maou-san!"

He didn't respond. Maou walked away and opened the door, forcing Ashiya and Emi to be the one greeting Mrs. Riho Sasaki out.

"Mrs. Sasaki," Emi greeted. "I'm... Chiho's friend. I'm so glad that you're here, but I need to talk to Maou. Can you please give me a minute?"

She nodded.

##

Maou was walking on the hallway. His face down glancing at the predictable patterns of the floor. If only the world could be as predictable as a pattern like that. If only he could take a glance at the future and prevent these events to happen. He had faced Earthquakes, rogue Angels, even evil scammers, and he had yet to see this kind of evil to be perpetrated into him.

Emi was right behind following him. Of course she did, but honestly he wouldn't really know why. Emi was the kind of person who would take the care of others more than him, but right now it seemed like that he was more concerned of him more than Chiho. Not that he blamed her. The doctors said that Chiho is going to be fine, and then so be it.

"Maou-san!" Emi shouted. "Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here."

"What?"

Maou stopped his tracks. He glanced back at Emi, who was completely startled by his face dripping with tears, wet as if rain just struck upon him. She widened her eyes, never thought that the demon would go into this emotional state at all.

"It's my fault." Maou said. "She's there because of me."

"What?" Emi said. "Maou, that's nonsense. You need to-"

"IT WAS ME!"

Emi flinched as Maou shouted it at her. It was an empty hallway in the hospital in the middle of the night. The voice echoed throughout the entire room. Emi still had her eyes focused on him. She should refocus him more. There was more important tasks at hand.

"Maou, it's not your fault."

"Yes it is." Maou said, glancing away from Emi. "I brought myself into this world, but I never thought that I would care for these people so much. You, Chiho, Suzuno, Ashiya, even Urushihara. I brought danger to all of you. If I didn't come in here. If I... didn't attack your people."

Emi widened her eyes. Did he just really blame him attacking Ente Isla to this?

"Now I understand what it feels like losing someone." Maou said. "Now I understand what it feels like to have someone close to you, and then finally lose them. Is this really what you want, Emi? Me, in pain, looking at the people I care about and knowing that they can die at any time?"

"Maou, that's..." Emi bit her lips. "I wanted you dead. That's it. Although I'd be lying if I say I didn't want you to feel what I feel, but-"

"Then look at me." Maou walked towards Emi. "You've never seen Satan cries, haven't you? Well, here he is. I hope you're happy."

Maou ranted. Without even giving any further comments, he went pass her, with him also deliberately bumping her shoulder. Emi just stood there, face full of shock and horror. This was one of the few opportunities the Hero and the Devil could interact. The Devil was crying, and somehow the Hero felt the same. Was it because they have the same ally? Or was it because of him?

##

"She was nine years old when she was towing her first bow and arrow." Riho said. "Her High School always looked out for some incredible talents. She went into an archery competition once and got a gold medal. Ever since then, she always dreamed about joining the Olympics."

"I never heard her talk about this." Ashiya said. "Although Maou-sama is closer to her than anyone so he knows more about her than I am. I'm just his roommate."

"Where are you from, Ashiya?"

"I... uh... I come from far." Ashiya said. "We're just a few months here so..."

Emi opened the door. Unfortunately Maou was not right behind. Ashiya could only greet and inform Riho Sasaki of the current situation. Maou was the one responsible for this whole thing, and it was understandable why he didn't even want to show his face on.

"Emi." Ashiya said. "Where's Maou-sama?"

"He's..." Emi said. "He's blaming himself too much. I think we should best leave him alone. I'm sorry I left earlier."

"It's alright." Riho said. "Mind if I ask who you are?"

"Emi Yusa. I'm Chiho's friend." 

"Ah yes Emi." Chiho said. "Chiho talks about you a lot, and how you're very close to Maou."

"Well..." Emi blushed. "We're not close. We're just... friends. More importantly, any news on Chiho?"

"The doctor just came in for a report." Ashiya said. "She can make it."

"What about Maou-san?" Riho asked. "Where is he?"

"I think he's too ashamed to be here." Emi said. "He blames himself too much. He swears to protect her, but... well..."

"I think he should be grateful." Riho said. "If he wasn't there, or in fact any of you close enough to her, nobody would bring her back to the hospital."

"You're right." Emi said. "I'm very sorry for this Mrs. Sasaki, but I have to leave. I have a work to do."

"Me too." Ashiya said. "I haven't finished the laundry at home yet. I hope they didn't destroy the laundry machine."

"Then off you go." Riho said. "Just one more thing."

"What is it?" Emi asked.

"Can you tell me who's responsible for this?"


	4. The Devil's Nightmare

C04: The Devil's Nightmare

Perhaps he went too far on ranting towards Emi. As far as he concerned, Emi was Chiho's friend as well, and it was a bit unfair to put the blame to him. He couldn't help it however. He was emotional, just about as emotional as when Emi confronted him about her father. That was probably her emotional limits, and this was Maou. He never thought that he would be able to get into this far, let alone to have any emotions towards any human being at all.

These terrorists have done more than just physical damage. The mental damage towards Maou was unprecedented. He doubt that he could get a good sleep for tonight. Yes, Chiho was diagnosed to be just fine, but it was not good enough news. The fact that he promised to take care of her, the fact that he once promised to keep her out of harm's way, it was all thrown out of the window. He was the one who did all of this, and there was no one else to blame but him.

The Devil's Castle was crowded with police officers inquiring the people who stayed for information about the perpretator. The gunshots were heard off from the neighbors but thankfully both Urushihara and Suzuno were doing just fine. The sight of Maou-san got them startled, and they began to inquire information from him as well.

"Maou-san!" Urushihara said.

"Good Sadao!" Suzuno said. "How is Chiho? Is she alright?"

"Yeah." Maou said. "She's fine."

"Wait, what about Ashiya?" Urushihara said. "Is he coming home?"

"He'll come home later."

Maou ignored the two for more plea of information and went into the stairs directly. He just noticed that the bullet holes on Room 201 were not fixed as of yet, but the scrapes of broken glasses were not there. It was damaged, but it was a lot better than it was before.

"Is it safe to sleep on this room?" Maou said.

"No." Suzuno said. "I'm afraid that we have to clean it all up tomorrow. For now, you can stay in my room."

"Thanks." Maou said. "Don't worry. I won't touch anything. I'll go straight to sleep."

##

For the record, demons should probably be ashamed. How could demons not feel emotions? How could demons cannot think of other beings? How come they don't feel compassion? What has gone through their minds to think such a think? He once thought that becoming humans were filthy, since he was a demon that could think about anything lower than a human. But now he felt it. His human feelings were disrupting him in every single turn that he can think of.

The longer he stayed on Earth, the longer he felt pain. It was something that not even he could feel during his time on Ente Isla. Was it a good thing? Was this truly what they intended for him? Is this really the kind of thing that the gods above wanted to him, assuming if god really wanted him to become this? Is he really even god? He couldn't even take over the land that he deserved.

Maou woke up. It was still in the middle of the night as he checked on the watch and it was 12:34. However, not a lot of people were around him. Perhaps they cleaned up Room 201 without even waking him up? Not sure why they went through that effort. He came home at exactly 10:13. At that moment, everyone should be glad that they could get a good night sleep.

Maou went out of the room and into Room 201. Nope. Nobody was there either. The entire room was still covered in bullet holes and the window was still broken.

"Ashiya!" that's the first name that came to his mind. He shouted his lungs out, but nobody answered. "Urushihara! Suzuno!"

Maou took his phone out. Unfortunately the battery was out, so he went on to the nearest socket to charge his phone. He took out the charger from his bag and let the phone charge, but unfortunately the electricity wasn't running.

"Damn it!" Maou said. "I told him to pay for it yesterday! *sigh* Where is everybody anyway?"

Knowing that there was no more access to communications, Maou decided to go out instead, hoping that at least someone would take care of him. It's 12:34 however and... wait... 12:34... a rather convenient time to be had. Worst of all, he was sure that minutes just passed.

 _"Getting lost?"_

Maou widened his eyes. He was sure that he heard that voice, deep and threatening in every wave that came out of it. The air went cold. It was so cold that he froze still in place. He could not take a good look of what just called him out, and if he did see it, he's going to punish himself.

"No..." Maou said.

 _"Yes, Maou-sama."_ there he said again. _"You are... lost."_

Maou was still in Room 201. He turned around slowly, not knowing if the figure that he's going to witness is going to haunt him forever. Once he got a good look on the figure, he really wished that he didn't.

The devil himself, true on his full red form, his horns, his glowing yellow eyes and his sharp teeth, and those sharp trisula, came just right near him. He never thought that he could witness his true devil form in person, but there he is. That true form was engrained in him all this time, and for the first time on his life, he was scared... terrified.

"Wh... wh... what...?"

 _"Maou-san."_ the Devil spoke. _"Have you lost your ways?"_

"N... no..." Maou said. "I... I wasn't lost. I had a new way."

 _"Ah, but does this new way is going to save you, or is it going to destroy you?"_ the Devil asked. _"All those times when you become the devil and rule Ente Isla. Good times. It was so simple. You just annihilated those filthy humans and you're done for."_

"They're not filthy!"

 _"Are you saying that because you are one?"_ the Devil said. _"Or are you saying that because your friend is one?"_

"Get them away from this!" Maou shouted. "For years I thought that being a devil is my destiny, but now that I'm human, I'm destined for something good! I'm destined to do something that is better than what I did in Ente Isla!"

 _"You're lying."_ the Devil said. _"God knows how many lies that you were told to you. All this life, you don't even know where you were born."_

"I..." Maou trembled. "Born...?"

 _"Do you know your mother?"_ the Devil asked. _"Do you even know your father?"_

"I..."

 _"You don't even care, do you?"_ the Devil said. _"What kind of human are you for not knowing who your mother and father is? All you cared about is to take over this world. That's because you're the devil."_

"YOU'RE WRONG!"

Maou grabbed a knife and threw it right towards the Devil, but the Devil caught it easily, laughing as he said so.

 _"Nice throw."_ the Devil said. _"You were a born warrior after all. Your father would be proud of you."_

"Who is my father!?" Maou shouted.

 _"That's for you to find out."_ the Devil said. _"My, you truly have lost your ways. For once I believed that the great devil of Ente Isla is going to be reborn, and he's going to bring a lot more nightmare to the people of this world. And yet here you are, staying and working into that crappy place as a Part Timer. Where is the devil that I know? It seems like I'm fading away from you."_

"For a good reason." Maou said. "I don't want to be you. I know it now. You're not what I wanted."

 _"For 300 years you have come into your senses."_ the Devil said. _"Can you imagine the amount of pain you have caused for that time?"_

"That wasn't me." Maou said. "That wasn't who I really am! I'm not you, and I will never be you again!"

 _"Not even for your little friend?"_

"Maou-san!"

Maou widened his eyes. That was the echo of a voice that he held dearly. That was the voice of someone that practically helped him to turn into a real human. Chiho shouted her lungs out, and Maou wanted to find her.

"Chiho!" Maou shouted. "Don't you do anything to her!"

 _"I've known it all this long."_ the Devil said. _"You have gone really soft."_

"Maou-san!"

The Devil opened a portal, getting Chiho out. She was still on her hospital gown. That fact alone startled him. He kidnapped her when she was still injured? Only the cruelest of devil would do such a thing.

"C... Chiho..." Maou said. "Don't worry."

 _"Of course. Don't worry."_ the Devil said. _"Even though he has no more powers. His entire power relies on me, and me alone, and I'm not even inside him."_

"Don't you hurt her!" Maou said.

 _"Or what?"_ the Devil said. _"You have nothing convincing. You have nothing to bargain with. The only thing that you have is your empty promises."_

"Shut up!"

Maou charged towards him, but the Devil didn't even have to use magic to take him down. His trisula was the only thing that Maou notice, and it was shoved... right through his entire body. All that he could do was to have a shocked face, with a deep undying pain that cannot be compared to any other pain he had experienced during his human form.

"Maou-san!"

He couldn't even speak. The trisula got him too deep for him to speak. The Devil released it out, letting him to bleed down the floor choking on his own blood.

 _"You're weak."_ the Devil said. _"You couldn't even bring vengeance to the one you hold the most."_

"I..." Maou said, struggling to speak. "I'm... I'm sorry, Chiho."

"Maou-san!"

##

"Chiho!"

Maou was trying to shout just when it all ended. That caused him to wake up with him shouting it all out, but Ashiya was there to grab him before he got a little too far. Ashiya pushed him back down into his futon before covering him back into his blankets.

"You just had a nightmare, Maou-sama." Ashiya said. "You were rambling incoherently. I think you should take another sleep."

"A... Ashiya?"

Ashiya slightly jumped on Maou. His face, it spoke nothing but gratefulness. The one thing that got him shockd was the tears. Maou went on to hug Ashiya, crying right below his shoulder.

"Ashiya..." Maou said. "Ashiya..."

"It's... it's alright, Maou-sama." Ashiya said. "I know it's hard for you to take on."

"I... I saw her..." Maou said. "I couldn't save her, Ashiya. I couldn't save her."

"She's going to be fine, Maou-sama." Ashiya said.

"But I couldn't save her." Maou said. "I'm ashamed to see her, Ashiya."

"If that's what you're worried about Sire, I wouldn't worry too much." Ashiya said. "Chiho's mother wants to thank you after what you did."

Maou literally stopped crying. He went back and glanced at Ashiya, who had an optimistic smile for some reason.

"Wh... what?"

"Chiho's mother, Riho, she wanted to thank you." Ashiya said. "She didn't blame you at all. In fact, she was grateful that you were there. If you weren't there, she doubted that Chiho would be safe at all."

"She... she did?"

"Yes she did, Sire." Ashiya said. "I would never lie to you. That's exactly what she said."

"I... thanks." Maou said. "That makes me feel better."

"If you're not up for the job, you should stay." Ashiya said. "We're going to need some help on fixing the house and everything."

"Oh yeah." Maou said. "I think I'll call the manager for now."

"Sure thing." Ashiya said. "And Maou-sama, I know that I'm not supposed to say this, but ever since our stay in here, we have changed, especially you. You used to be the demon that I swore my loyalty with. And now, you're my roommate and what I can best described as my best friend, or maybe a brother that I never had."

"A... Ashiya..." Maou said, smiling widely before hugging him back again. "If you were my brother, you'd be the best brother that I have!"

"I... I'm glad that you felt the same way, Maou-sama." Ashiya said. "It makes me happy."

They all stayed hugging for at least a couple of seconds before Maou let it go. To be fair, he couldn't remember the last time he hugged his loyal companion. He deserved at least one.

"Right." Maou said. "I think we should start cleaning our room up, shall we?"

"Suzuno and Urushihara did their work." Ashiya said. "Let's do ours."

"Urushihara _did_ his work? Ashiya, are you sure that I woke up from my dream?"

They both laughed. It seemed like this was exactly what the former Devil wanted. That devil was just the shell of his former self, out of his body once and for all. What was left is a newly reborn human, filled with the emotions that could come from such a creature. The thought of humans as filthy creatures faded away, as he realized the joy and struggle of living to become one, and the wonderful moments that came out of it.


	5. The Devil Takes a Day Off

C05: The Devil Takes a Day Off

In the house of Villa Rosa, there were tons of hard work going on. After the incident, Ashiya tried to pad in the bullet holes with something else a lot more durable like wood. It was hard to pad in bullet holes like that and it was quite the challenge to make sure that things are going off on the right way. Things went out quite well so far. Thanks to the non-existent of computers for him to play around, Urushihara had to help Suzuno to make up the food once Maou and Ashiya finished their job on cleaning up the mess.

Maou was cleaning up the glass shards while Urushihara was helping with the cooking with Suzuno, although he was very sure the real motive behind all of that. He just wanted a taste. To be fair, tons of hard work and they're desperately hungry.

"Mmm." Ashiya said. "Smells good from here. Since when did you know how to cook?"

"Since you guys were bailing out on me every time I asked for food." Urushihara said. "I said screw it and try to make my own. Of course it didn't taste well at first."

"That's why I help on Urushihara on getting his food done." Suzuno said. "I find it surprising that he is very talented on this matter. He just doesn't like to do it well."

"Maybe if you can actually use some of your talents and actually help, I'd let you in any day." Ashiya said. "You know what, maybe you should do the laundry next time."

"Hey, if Urushihara gets the chance to make his own food, maybe he should make for us!" Maou said. "And even better, he should also do the laundries!"

"Couldn't agree more." Ashiya said.

"I'm not making any food for either of you." Urushihara said. "Even if I am, the best that I can make is a small pork bowl."

"The fact that you can make one is already astonishing." Ashiya said. "I guess you are changing in for the better."

"Shouldn't you be going off for a job, Maou?" Suzuno said.

"Well, I called in the manager and she gave me a permit." Maou said. "She's also taking a day off. She wanted to visit Chiho-san after her shift."

"Come to think of it, I actually want to visit Chiho-dono in the next couple of hours." Suzuno said. "Maybe after I finished lunch, I'll bring some food for her."

"We still don't know who attacked us last time, though." Ashiya said. "Does any of you have any ideas?"

"We only have theories." Urushihara said. "But that's the best we can get. The police are working on this kind of stuff. We never had shootings in Sasazuka before so this case is definitely special."

"Yeah." Maou said. "What if there are more attacks in other neighbors?"

"We definitely want to avoid that as much as possible." Ashiya said. "Thank god for the police department. They're definitely giving a lot of help."

"Definitely." Maou said. "I'm really hoping that things are going well with the investigations. If they couldn't find them, I'm going to find them myself."

"I'll help." Suzuno said.

"I'll definitely help too." Urushihara said.

"If these people are looking for us again, Ente Isla or not, I'll have your back." Ashiya said. "We all will."

Maou smiled. It was before he got called by Emi Yusa of all people.

"Oh, it's Emi." Maou answered the call. "Hello, Emi...?"

 _"Maou-san,"_ Emi said. _"I think I have something on the shooter."_

"Oh really?" Maou said. "Can you tell me what it is?"

 _"I have like loads of files linking into the shooter."_ Emi said. _"You're going to need more than just listening to me."_

"So what do you want me to do?" Maou asked.

 _"Meet me in Moonbucks."_ Emi said. _"There's a Moonbucks in Sasazuka just right near Chiho's hospital."_

"Oh I'll definitely be right there." Maou said. "What time?"

 _"Is 12PM alright?"_ Emi said. _"I asked for an off day permit."_

"So 12PM?" Maou said. "Okay. I'll be right there."

"Is there something important?" Ashiya asked.

"It's about Chiho's shooter." Maou said. "Emi's getting closer."

"Are we going to know about them?" Suzuno asked.

"I hope so." Maou said. "It's the first thing I'm hoping."

##

It was intense. Ashiya got a hold on her. A large sound came out, relentlessly beating over in the outside. The last thing she remembered was that she was hurt on the shoulder and bleeding. She didn't know if those shots were made just for her or if those shots were made for the Devil. The latter was probably true but why now? If the Angels really opposed to what the humans were doing, why don't they care for humans?

It seemed like all they care for right now were just the mere non-existence of devil. The collateral damage that they caused towards other humans is irrelevant to the angels. At least, that's what Chiho thought.

"Ah, you have waken up."

Chiho is greeted with a nurse. The accent was a little strange. Her long silver hair and her red eye was a bit startling to see at first, especially the fact that it matched on her nurse gown.

"I..." Chiho said. "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital."

Chiho widened her eyes. "Oh..."

"Do you remember anything that happened yesterday?"

"I... yes." Chiho said. "I don't know why, but guns were shot inside Maou-san's house."

"Maou-san?"

"He's my coworker and friend." Chiho said. "He's a really good guy! He's a hardworker and he's very kind to me."

"I'm hoping he is. If not, he wouldn't have went through the way to save you. Mind if I ask is he the young man with the slightly blue hair?"

"Yes, that's him." Chiho said. "Is there any problem?"

"Oh nothing. I just... he looks so worried when you were hurt."

"Oh, don't worry about it." Chiho said. "My shoulder... it feels a little hurt but I think I'm doing just fine."

"That's because you are a very strong girl."

Chiho smiled. "Am I?"

"You've surrounded yourself with very strong people."

"I think so." Chiho said. "So nurse, what should I call you?"

"Call me Lailah." Lailah said. "I'm always going to be in service."

"Thank you, nurse Lailah!" Chiho said.

"It's my job." Lailah said. "Mind if I ask another thing?"

"Oh, sure." Chiho said. "Is there a problem?"

"How would you describe Maou-san?"

Chiho raised her eyebrows. At first, she examined her age. She looked so young, almost as young as Emi. She talked a bit differently and there was no wedding ring. She probably had an interest to develop a relationship with him. That's... really not a good sign, and that's going to be something that deserve concern.

"Um... what's the matter?" Lailah asked.

"How old are you?"

"Oh." Lailah said. "I'm 42."

"Eh?" Chiho said. "You look so young!"

"Why do you ask that?"

Chiho blushed. "I... well... are you going to um... you know..."

Lailah giggled. "I think I know what you meant. No, I'm not interested in pursuing any relationship with Maou-san. I have a husband and a girl."

"Oh, I'm glad." Chiho said. "But... why do you want to ask about him?"

"I've seen him once." Lailah said. "You know I thought I was dreaming, but... he really looked like my baby son."

"Oh..." Chiho said. "What happened to your baby son?"

"He couldn't make it past a year." Lailah said. "Some form of disease on his digestion system that corrupted him."

"I'm really sorry." Chiho said. "I... don't know how it feels like to lose someone like that."

"He had the same red eyes." Lailah said. "The same dark blue hair. The same nose. The same smile. You wouldn't see that kind of face for years, and to think that I'd see him again."

"So how about the girl?"

"Ah, the girl is doing just fine." Lailah said. "In fact, I've seen her grown up to be a very strong and mature woman."

"And your husband?"

"We've... never seen eye to eye." Lailah said. "In fact, the entire family has split."

"What happened?"

"I actually came from Kyoto." Lailah said. "There was a civil war between families. I was banished out of the family for going against their will. My husband stayed there to take care of my daughter. Ever since then, I never heard anything from them anymore."

"If you have a husband, then why didn't you have a wedding ring?"

"You're very observant for a child your age." Lailah said. "Well, simply put I didn't have one nor did I use one. In my family, it was a necklace. He made me this, and I intend to keep it."

Lailah showed the necklace. It was a simple necklace crafted in what could best described as expensive jewelries crafted with perfection. It was a simple oval diamond. Every form of shape expose the diligence on its crafting. Every reflection showed beauty and care. The lights blinking from every angle of that crafted masterpiece astonished every part of her eyes. It was like a visual massage.

"Oh my." Chiho said. "That looks beautiful!"

"From the one and only." Lailah said. "He made this to me. I am completely astounded by his craftsmanship. This is the one and only thing that I brought home from my land."

"Kyoto sounds a lot more interesting now." Chiho said. "Now it's my turn to ask."

"Oh?"

"How is your daughter like?"

"Oh ah well." Lailah said. "She's a very strong woman. She has dealt with so many problems in her life before, and I've never been so proud of her."

"Well, I can't really picture her if she doesn't have a name."

"Of course!" Lailah said before giggling. "Her name is Emilia."

Chiho was sure that her brain just went blank there for a second, but she had to make sure that it was another Emilia and not _that_ Emilia.

"Um... eh..." Chiho said, nervously smiling. "Do you mean..."

"Yes, _that_ Emilia." Lailah said. "I'm her mother."

##

 _A/N: Since it's actually pretty hard to find the light novels here and the manga didn't actually go as far as the anime, I'm forced to read some pretty spoiler-y things in the Wikia. All I did is just to take the new characters and put them into a new universe. It's actually quite an interesting universe and I wanted to flesh it out a bit._

 _Thanks for reading so far! Please leave some reviews or follow and favorite the story up if you want to. I appreciate it! :)_


	6. The Devil has an Origin Story

C06: The Devil Has an Origin Story

For some reason, Maou received an invitation to come into a café. Since Emi couldn't really do this on Villa Rosa directly (thank god because that place was still in wreck), they had to meet u in a café in Moonbucks. The overpriced coffee was certainly a concern, but at least Emi was able to pay for it.

"Is there anything specific you want to ask?" Maou said.

"I never thought that you're going to take a day off just because Chiho is sick." Emi said. "So much about the dedicated worker."

"Hey, cut me some slack. My house just got assaulted with machine guns." Maou said. "I didn't even know where it came from. I don't know who shoot it. What I know is that it hits on Chiho and I couldn't forgive that."

"You're right about something, Maou."

"Huh?" Maou said. "About what?"

"You're right." Emi said. "If I could, I would probably deliver in the same kind of treatment that you gave to me."

"What treatment?"

"If you were a human, I would've done the same thing that those shooters did to you." Emi said. "I would hurt your loved ones. I would make you suffer the same way you made me."

"Wow." Maou said. "You really hate me that much."

"But unfortunately you're the devil." Emi said. "It would be a lot quicker to just kill you."

"If I could feel human emotions during that war, would you do it?"

"I would, but not to you now." Emi said. "At the hospital, I didn't see Satan. You weren't the devil back then. You're Sadao Maou, the MgRonald's worker who almost lost his coworker and friend."

Maou bit his lips. "Where are you going with this?"

"I... well..." Emi said. "I didn't want to harm you like that... for some reason. Maybe because the devil would never ever feel love from someone and killing one would mean nothing to you, or maybe because I just have a higher standard."

"I'm surprised." Maou said. "Considering what you did for the past few months, which for the record has been surprisingly unheroic."

"Shut up!" Emi said. "I didn't ask for your opinions."

"Fine." Maou said. "It's not that I come for you to hear it anyway. I want you to tell me about the shooter."

"Well," Emi took out a folder containing a few papers. "It wasn't a direct contact with the shooter, but remember the office where Ashiya used to work?"

"Yeah, that scam office." Maou said. "What about it?"

"It turns out that it has connections to some criminal syndicates." Emi said. "Some of whom had access to guns."

"But why would they try to attack us?" Maou said. "Wouldn't that be too late? I mean would we really spoil anything when it's been months?"

"I'm not sure." Emi said. "And if that's not it, I've checked on Ente Isla and there's nothing new."

"You had a contact to Ente Isla all this time?"

"How the hell do you think I call in Emeralda?" Emi asked. "Anyway, that's what I got."

"So we're going straight there again?" Maou said. "What are we going to do after that?"

"We're going to ask for their connections." Emi said. "Any connection that might lead us to the reason why they attacked us in the first place."

"And if we find it?"

"You have two choice." Emi said. "Follow them or stay down. Obviously if you're going to follow them, you'll run the risk of getting shot to death or worse."

"I'm the Devil." Maou said. "If these brethrens put their hammer towards the people I care about, killing them would be a tremendous mercy."

"It's not that I disagree with what you say, Maou-san. I'm just asking if this is the right thing to do." Emi said. "I don't want you to go on a killing rampage to the people that don't really deserve it."

"Wow, I'm surprised that you care for them that much." Maou said. "How much care and sympathy did you put for the demons by the war?"

"What did you expect us to think? You're hungry demons that eat people for a living!"

"So if they were humans, would you kill them?"

"Do you really have to make things hard when you don't really need to?" Emi said. "What happened in Ente Isla is different than what happened here. You're too painfully obvious to kill in Ente Isla. But in here, you have a choice to not follow your past and believe it or not I appreciate that. Now I'm warning you, Maou. If you're going to put yourself in a mindless rampage to find Chiho's shooter, you probably would've caused more damage, and more people wanting revenge towards you."

"So you're saying that you care for the lives who shot Chiho first than the lives of Chiho?" Maou said. "You're not the hero here, Emilia."

"For the record, I didn't chose to be a hero." Emilia said. "You made me to be what I am. Your terrorization, your attacks, you made me to be like this. And knowing what you feel towards Chiho, I'm sure that becoming the next devil isn't what Chiho wants."

"How exactly am I the next devil?" Maou said. "I'm going to put the hammer down on these bastards for gunning my friend! That's justice."

"You're going to trigger another war when you don't really have to." Emilia said. "This is why I told you about killing you and you were right. It doesn't even matter now that you're not even the demon. For what you are right now, I don't want to kill you, and I especially don't want you to suffer from what I've suffered, because that may have consisted with people that I also care about."

"If you're going to stop me from going into them, what's the point of telling me this?" Maou said.

"I just... wanted to make sure that you don't pick the wrong decision." Emi said. "I want you to learn from my mistake. Back then, when I knew you as just the Devil, I didn't even give one care towards you and I'm going to kill you whatever it takes. But now that I know who you really are in this world, I even reconsidered my options on killing you. At that point, I didn't even care that you killed my father. I could... probably forgive you for that."

Maou glared at Emi, who looked like she meant it but somehow there was a little bit of a resistance in her. Somehow, Emi wanted him to not do it. Somehow, she wanted to do anything she can to make sure that Maou didn't go there, to the point where she would forgive him for the mistakes he did in the past. Would she really do this? What has gone through her mind?

"You..." Maou said. "You wouldn't."

"What?"

"You wouldn't forgive me." Maou said. "I killed your father when I didn't even know you. That's my biggest mistake. That's something that you'll never forgive."

"You should thank Chiho for that." Emi said. "I forgived you because of how much care you have for her. I... never thought that you'd feel guilty for things that wasn't really your fault, and I never thought that you'd put her life as a part of your responsibility. And don't tell me it's MgRonald's policy."

"Well, it's that and..." Maou said. "She's just a really nice girl. She's been really nice to me and I don't want anything to happen to her. I'm going to do anything to protect her, and I failed this time. It's just like how your father wanted to protect you, but honestly apologizing to you would be the last thing that I want to do."

"What?" Emi said. "Why?"

"Because I know that you're not going to accept it."

"Well in that case... I accept the apology, then." Emi said, causing Maou to widen his eyes. "I believe that you're not a bad guy, Maou. You're just about as good as every other human being. So I'm asking you to please don't waste your humanity into something else, even if it's for someone else you cared so much about, and please don't be an enemy of someone else when you don't absolutely have to."

"I..."

"Please." Emi said. "You said that you want to be a human, so please don't be heartless and do it for Chiho."

Maou glanced away. He looked at his options before he come into a conclusion.

"If there's one thing that we can both agree on, is that whoever these people shooting at us are deprived beyond belief."

"No doubt about that." Emi said.

"But..." Maou said. "You're right. I can face them as the devil and bring my judgment to them if I want, but I've made my promise to anyone that a human life is what I wanted. No, I'm not going to take it."

"I... wow" Emi said. "I really didn't expect it to work."

"What did you expect me to say, then?"

"Something a lot more evil." Emi said.

"Well I don't know, Emi." Maou said. "It's just that the way you said it. It sounded so sincere and honest that I... find it comforting."

Emi widened her eyes, blushing slightly. "I uh..."

"Well, I'm not going to go then." Maou said. "Besides, I'm going to visit Chiho. Do you want to?"

##

"Ooh..." Chiho said. "So she doesn't know who you are?"

"No... unfortunately." Lailah said. "But as her mother, I can recognize her very well. I recognize her eyes. I know how her hair looks. She looks about as stunning just when she was a child."

"So if you really were from Ente Isla, do you really know about Maou?"

"I don't really know him personally as an adult, but as a baby I know him very well." Lailah said. "I never thought that Emi would tell someone like you about Ente Isla."

"They can trust me. Don't worry about it." Chiho said. "It's not like someone's going to believe me anyway. But if Maou-san is Emi's brother..."

"He's not." Lailah said. "I found Maou in the midst of the war. He was a baby, stranded in the middle of everything. I took him and I grew him out, before I have to leave him stranded because of his demonic nature. That's where he first got his title as the Demon King."

"Ooh." Chiho said. "So you're not really his mother?"

"Biologically? Of course not." Lailah said. "I just found him and I took care of him at least until he's a toddler. Despite all of the demonic things you've heard about him, you still really like him?"

"Of course I like him." Chiho said. "Maou-san is not the Devil. He's a really nice guy that knows hard work."

"There is also another secret about Maou that you need to know." Lailah said. "It is so strange for him to become this nice towards anyone. It was probably because there is a side of him that doesn't really want to rule the world, where he can feel guilt, regret, and all the emotions that come from being a human."

"So Maou-san is..."

"I think he's not entirely a devil." Lailah said. "Oh dear me! I have more job to do. I've been spending too much time in here."

"Oh." Chiho said before giggling.

"It's been great talking to you, Chiho-san." Lailah said. "And please keep this secret between us, agree?"

"Eh..." Chiho said.

"You... don't agree?"

"But... but wouldn't Emi be happy to finally meet you?" Chiho asked.

"I... I'm still a bit too ashamed." Lailah said. "Give me some time."

"Okay." Chiho said. "But first, pinky swear!"

"Uh..." Lailah smiled. "Sure."

##

After the pinky swear, nurse Lailah left the room. At this rate, her mother couldn't visit her because she was way too busy with work. At best, she'd better be left alone there and take a rest. At least she gave the TV remote. The IV plug was certainly annoying, but at least she was able to walk around. She had to drag that IV hanger everywhere she went, but it's healing her and there's nothing wrong with that.

After taking the TV remote, Chiho went back to her bed. She had her phone to play around with so that was definitely something. Wait... her phone is in there. Wouldn't it be good to call for her mother at that time?


	7. The Gang Rejoice

C07: The Gang Rejoice

She picked up the phone. Thankfully there was a universal charger right next to it. At this rate, she must have been worried at work. She really didn't want to make her worry at all. That event was completely random and nobody knew who did it. Would she know? Or the better question, should she know? She browsed in through her mother's phone number and called her. A few beeps later and she answered.

 _"Chiho!"_ Riho said. _"Oh thank goodness you're awake!"_

"Hi, mom." Chiho said.

 _"How are you doing?"_ Riho said. _"Are you okay?"_

"Don't worry. I'm totally fine." Chiho said. "My shoulder hurts a lot, but I can walk around just fine. The nurse let me do it, but I really shouldn't move too much."

 _"That's great."_ Riho said. _"Any news from the doctors?"_

"Nothing new yet." Chiho said. "When can you take a visit?"

 _"I'll be there at night. I'm sorry I couldn't stay."_ Riho said. _"There's an important meeting last morning and I have to attend it. At least I've told the nurse to take care of you."_

"She's really nice." Chiho said. "Oh, someone is visiting. I'll be seeing you soon."

 _"Okay, Chiho-chan."_ Riho said. _"I love you."_

"I love you too, mom." Chiho said.

Chiho closed the phone off to greet her visitor. It was quite surprising that she had not only one, but three visitors. One is Ashiya, one is Suzuno, and one is - quite surprisingly - Urushihara.

"Chiho-dono!" Suzuno said. "It's good to see you."

"Ah, Suzuno-san!" Chiho said. "Ashiya-san! And... Urushihara?"

"What?" Urushihara said. "Aren't you letting me to worry?"

Chiho giggled. "Nothing. It's just that I'm a little surprised. Thanks for visiting."

"You're welcome." Urushihara said, but still with an oblivious face.

"She's thanking you, Urushihara." Suzuno said. "You should smile for a bit."

"I'm not so good at smiling." Urushihara said.

"It must've looked ugly." Ashiya said.

"The hell is your problem, Ashiya?" Urushihara said.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Ashiya said. "I just love making fun of you."

"Why does I always have to be the target?" Urushihara said.

"Your reactions are always amusing." Suzuno said.

"Oh screw you! Both of you!" Urushihara said.

"Just leave him alone, Ashiya-san and Suzuno-san." Chiho said. "He's kind enough to visit. Let's make him comfortable for once."

Urushihara sighed in relief. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Chiho."

"Where's Maou-san?" Chiho said.

"Oh Maou." Suzuno said. "Maou is um... he's meeting with Emi."

Chiho froze. "Emi?"

"You don't have to worry, Chiho-dono." Suzuno said. "Maou said that they'll be meeting in a café somewhere."

"C... Ca... Ca... Café."

Chiho had a bewildered face, while Suzuno struggled to comprehend what just happened. Apparently, despite his lack of social skills, Urushihara seemed to be aware of this.

"I guess you're implying something there." Urushihara said.

Ashiya's phone rang. He answered it in a reflex and caused the rest to pay attention.

"Oh it's..." Ashiya said. "I'd rather take this privately."

"Who is it, Ashiya?" Chiho asked.

"It's Rika."

Urushihara muttered the name, causing Ashiya to immediately lunge into him and lifted him out through his shirt with rage and fury.

"Say that again and I'll-"

 _"Hello?"_

"Oh uh... hi, Rika-san!" Ashiya said. "Sorry uh... is there a problem? ... Yeah I'm just right at the hospital ... Lobby? ... Oh okay. I'll be right there."

"Rika-san is visiting?" Chiho asked.

"Yeah, and she asked me to pick her up." Ashiya said, while Chiho had a really flowery face. "*sigh* Before you guys got any implications, we don't have anything."

"That's going to take a lot of time for convincing." Urushihara said. "Especially when she specifically called you."

"Really?" Ashiya said. "While you are being a total NEET alone in the house with Suzuno, is there something more beyond than just cooking lessons?"

Urushihara got startled on that reply with a little bit of blush. Suzuno widened her eyes slightly.

"Never mind. I'll be right back." Ashiya said. "Just... chill out or something."

##

Ashiya stepped into the elevator as it took him into the lobby. He was thinking about Maou-sama. He was hoping that at least Maou-sama and Emi could get at least one step closer into finding the perpetrators. Whoever these people should be punished, as there was no mercy to be had on shooting a high school teenager right in the shoulder to the point where she lost a lot of blood and hurt.

Speaking of Maou-sama, perhaps it's good to call him at that moment.

 _"Hello?"_

"Maou-sama."

 _"Oh, Ashiya."_ Maou said. _"What's going on?"_

"I'm in the hospital." Ashiya said. "Where are you?"

 _"I'm on the way to the hospital with Emi."_ Maou said.

"Excellent." Ashiya said. "Do you want me to pick you two up? I'm heading to the lobby."

 _"Sure."_

Ashiya exit the elevator and went straight into the lobby, where Rika was sitting on one of the benches in the waiting room. She didn't notice him yet, but Ashiya continued his call with Maou.

"I'm hoping that your conquest on finding the one responsible for this monstrosity go on well." Ashiya said.

 _"Emi finds that the company that you used to work with have connections to people that can buy weapons."_ Maou said. _"That's a little worrying, don't you think?"_

"You should put in the hammer, Maou-sama!" Ashiya said. "They have troubled us for the second time, and if we let them do it, something worse might happen!"

 _"I don't think it's them, Ashiya."_ Maou said. _"Besides, the last thing that I want is to go on a murder spree of the people who probably might be responsible. I could lose my job."_

"Oh, right." Ashiya said.

 _"I kept my promise on not being the devil."_ Maou said. _"I just didn't realize that the human emotions could go as far as to show how demonic I could be."_

"Well, whatever your decision is, I'll be on your back." Ashiya said. "And I..."

"Ashiya!"

Rika called in and waved her hands. Ashiya smiled and waved his hand back. Rika went in closer towards him and Ashiya concluded his phone call.

"Well," Ashiya said. "I'll see you later."

 _"I'm actually close."_ Maou said. _"Wait me there."_

"Sure thing, Maou-sama."

Ashiya closed the phone off and smiled back at Rika. "Oh sorry, Rika. Maou's coming here with Emi."

"Eh?" Rika said. "What was Maou doing with Emi?"

"It's a lot more serious than you think." Ashiya said. "I'm sure you've heard what happened in my apartment."

"Yes, I have."

"Emi said that she could probably find some connections on who did it." Ashiya said. "Knowing Maou, if someone hurts the people closest to him, he's not going to let it go."

"I don't know why someone would do that." Rika said. "Who would do such a thing to a cute girl like Chiho-san?"

"They couldn't find a lead." Ashiya said. "They're trying their hardest. Oh and you're not working?"

"Well, I'm in my break." Rika said. "So um... are you still a house maid?"

"Uh... yeah."

"Aren't you tired?"

"For Maou? Never." Ashiya said. "I wish that Maou was my brother. He gives me all the money to buy our daily food. I'd do anything to repay him back."

"I admire what you do, Ashiya-kun." Rika said.

"I think you've gone to great lengths to tell me how great I am." Ashiya said. "It's not that I don't appreciate it. It's just that I feel cheated that I have to be the special one."

"Oh..." Rika widened her eyes. "Are you..."

"You're special, Rika." Ashiya said. "Don't let someone take your spotlight."

That comment alone caused Rika to be bewildered and blushing heavily. Why would he say that of all things?

"Ah, Maou-sama!"

Rika broke her thoughts for a while to get a glance on Maou-san. She was glad that at least Ashiya could break her before she'd go completely insane, but something more insane came through.

"Eh, Rika?" Emi said. "What are you doing here?"

Rika's face turned completely white with eyes bulging larger than a baseball.

"It's... It's nothing!" Rika said. "I just... I just happen to meet Ashiya-san nearby! I thought I'd be visiting too, you know?"

"Happen to meet? You just asked me to meet you here."

Ashiya stated the painfully obvious, which caused quite the wrecking shame towards Rika. Emi initially was confused, but then realized their entire shtick and the reason why Rika lied to it. A very suspicious smile came out of her face.

"Uh... what are you guys on?" Maou said.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Rika said. "Let's get to Chiho, shall we?"

"Somehow, I don't believe it." Emi said.

Well, at least things are just back to normal. However, if what Maou-sama said was right that he didn't find the culprit yet, they still have a long way to go on searching it.

##

The visit went on really well. They were all having fun together talking about past times. Lots of people were visiting on Chiho and honestly, she had it overwhelmed. So many amazing friends wanted to visit her at this moment. She even got a visit from Manager Kisaki. Just goes to show her how much people really care for her, and how much she's such a special person that even beings from another plane of existence cared for her so much.

"I'm glad that you're alright, Chiho-chan." Emi said.

"Yeah, me too." Maou said. "I'm so glad that you are."

"Do you know who attacked us in there?" Chiho asked.

"We don't know yet." Emi said. "And honestly it doesn't matter. The police are doing the their work just fine."

"Your father is working on this too." Ashiya said. "I'm sure that he's going to bring the hammer to anyone who's trying to hurt you."

"I see." Chiho said. "Although my dad wasn't so sure about keeping friends with you."

"Chiho-chan," Emi said. "If there's one thing we all agree on is that we're not exactly the kind of people who get away with things without making enemies."

"It's that bad?" Rika asked.

"Oh yes Rika." Emi said. "Our business in the past got us competitors, and they had quite the past grudges."

"I'm starting to get a bit afraid on getting closer with you." Rika said. "But... are you sure that these are your competitors and not just... you know... random strangers?"

"They appear very professional." Ashiya said. "I got a closer look on them. They have complete riot gears and sophisticated armory."

"Oh I forgot to mention something." Urushihara said. "While you were in the hospital, Chiho-chan's dad was also there investigating. I believe that he said that some riot gears from the police basement were missing."

"What?" Maou said.

"Who stole it?" Emi said.

"Even the police are trying to figure it out." Urushihara said. "I really don't know the details, but what I know is that the items that are lost are really dangerous and the numbers that are stolen are even worse."

"Oh yeah I heard it in the morning news too." Rika said. "That's when I was worried too. I'm just glad that nobody got hurt seriously. Well, almost nobody."

"There's also something weird." Urushihara said. "If your theory that these are indeed people that Ashiya used to work with, wouldn't it be a lot easier for them to get the weapons? Why go into all the troubles on finding the weapons in the police station?"

"You're right." Maou scratched his chin. "Which means..."

"Someone came from Ente Isla."

Chiho said out of nowhere, causing pretty much most of the Ente Isla beings except Urushihara to go completely nuts, having a face that signify nothing but error. Rika was the only person that was curious on the term of Ente Isla.

"Ente Isla?" Rika said.

"Oh it's..." Emi said. "It's just one of my old business projects. It was a codename to one of the regions in Tokyo that we had to demolish. I think I had some angry people about it."

"Eh, Emi?" Rika said. "I know that you're a hard worker, but do you really have to do that?"

"You can't make omelets without breaking a few eggs." Maou said.

"And we're not the only eggs that Emi broke." Ashiya said.

"You guys are really not helping." Emi said.

"Well, I don't know why does all of this have to resort in violence." Rika said. "I mean can't we just talk it out?"

"I wish that can be the case, Rika." Emi said. "I really wish."

This was definitely Ente Isla. This was definitely someone who just came over to the world to take out the devil, assuming that's the real mission. Whoever the perpetrator is, they didn't even think twice. They must have taken harsh action because they knew that Maou is the Devil. To be fair, that's how Emi reacted first, but they have no idea what they're in. Their peaceful, funny and exciting world is going to be disturbed by what seemed to be the manifestation of justice.

The Devil shall not live happily ever after.


	8. The Hero Meets Another Devil

C08: The Hero finds Another Devil

Going back home wasn't hard. Splitting up with the rest of the Ente Isla gang was even less harder. However, for what happened today, nothing could guarantee the safety of pretty much everybody. There was a little bit of a hard feeling of being stalked especially at night. After dark, Emi was walking into a taxi to go back to where she lived. She hasn't hailed a taxi yet, but someone else ways in the way.

"Uh... hello?"

There was a man just standing right near the taxi that Emi hailed. The man was a guy on his twenties with a short spiky white hair. He was wearing a very casual black T-Shirt with 'I Love LA' written in both white Romanji and Katakana letters. Emi glanced at the said man before properly recognizing him.

"Uh... hi, Emi."

"You..." Emi said. "You're..."

"Archangel Gabriel." Gabriel said. "It's... nice to see you-"

Gabriel raised his hand, but it bumped off into a street light nearby, causing him to groan for a bit.

"Ouch." Emi said. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Gabriel shook Emi's hands. "It's been a while, isn't it Emi?"

"Yes." Emi said. "And you're still just as clumsy as you were."

Gabriel giggled, scatching the back of his head. "Sorry."

"I'm surprised to see you here." Emi said. "I don't know what your business really is here on Earth, but if you're going to see the Devil, forget it."

"What?"

"He's not going back to Ente Isla." Emi said. "He got better things to do."

"What..." Gabriel said. "Emi, how can you of all people be mislead by such lies? He was obviously planning to deceive you so that he can return to the place where he can come back and rule the world as we know it!"

"If I may ask, how is Ente Isla doing without the presence of the devil?" Emi said. "I'm sure it's just doing alright. In fact, I'm very sure that all of you have celebrated your victories."

"There's no such victory to be celebrated!" Gabriel said. "As long as the Devil is alive, Ente Isla is under a serious threat!"

Emi widened her eyes. "Which is why you blindly shoot Villa Rosa."

"The Devil has to be exterminated in whatever ways you can."

Gabriel didn't even flinch. Emi stared at him with eyes wide, but he continued his words as if the things that he did wasn't a surprise to her.

"No matter the risk and circumstances, I'm going to exterminate the Devil from this plane of existence." Gabriel said. "I heard that he lives alone in his apartment. I unleashed fury upon him-"

Emi straight up punched him in the face. That surely got him in surprise. The punch was so strong he knocked himself out into the pavement of the street. Emi then lifted off his stupid t-shirt and lifted him up. She pinned his entire body up into the street pole and unleashed her strongest punch into his stomach. After a loud groan coming out of him, she pinned him again in there.

"You goddamn moron!" Emi shouted. "I was there! You straight up shot me! And you completely missed the target! You managed to hurt an innocent civilian in the way!"

Gabriel glanced at Emi with utter shock. It was extremely justified no matter what. She's going to unleash hell on him at any cost, despite her previous affiliations with him.

"A teenager almost died because of you!" Emi said. "She's a girl, a really nice girl. In fact, she's one of the nicest people I've ever met in this world! And what you've done to her is unforgiveable! Depraved beyond belief!"

"I... I'm sorry, Emilia!" Gabriel nodded. "I had no choice! I was banished out of my world to hunt for the demon! I feel that the demon is responsible. I let my emotions judge the better of me!"

"Of course you did." Emi said. "If you were a lot more careful, you'd be reducing the amount of potential casualties."

"Hey."

A police officer glanced at Emi who just beat up a man right up at public. The man glared at Emi with the same contempt eye when Emi attacked Maou when they first met.

"Put him down." the officer said.

Emi put him down just as he told her, but she went on to accuse him for some other things.

"Please take this man, officer!" Emi said. "He just randomly shot a house with a teenager in it!"

"Ignore us."

Emi felt a sense of magic just nearby. Now she understood why and how Gabriel managed to get his hands on military grade weapons as Ashiya seen it. He used his brainwashing magic. The brainwash magic used very less magic and the demons are unable to regain power because of it. However, for Archangels, it was incredibly easy.

"Oh... okay." the policeman said. "I'll leave you two now."

Emi wasn't astonished, but Gabriel's methods on getting through the Devil is to literally strip people off of their free will. As far as she knew, only demons would take a step that far.

"You used your magic." Emi said. "So that's how you get your weapons."

"Policemen wouldn't just hand over their weapons obviously." Gabriel said. "I found it by this methods."

"Only demons do that."

"I have no choice!" Gabriel said. "I cannot proceed without magic powers. Even then, I can only use it in a small dose. I've learned that out of all the magnificent powers that I have, this is the only power that I can use without causing too much panic, and you know that the Devil loves to cause panic."

Despite the clumsiness, he was correct. He had learned from the past battles that happened in Sasazuka and Ente Isla that the Devil harness on the despair of other human beings. And perhaps, as an unintentional tactical move, he was able to at least cripple him in some ways.

"So what then?" Emi asked. "What are you going to do now?"

"I want you to help me." Gabriel said. "The Devil is the plague of this Earth, and we're going to need to exterminate him."

"Well, you're right if the Devil exist."

"What?"

"How did you know that the Devil is there?" Emi asked. "How did you even know that Sadao Maou is the Devil?"

"He has that look." Gabriel said. "I've seen him up close, the look of someone who has exterminated the thousands of people on Ente Isla."

Emi had to picture Maou in his most pathetic moments (him in a pleasant MgRonald's employee outfit serving the customers) and she compare and contrast to what Gabriel described him as.

Her mouth was twitching in an interrupted grin, making noise and trying to comprehend her answer after comparing those two. Yeah, it didn't really connect at all.

"Please tell me that you still remember it Emi." Gabriel said. "This man has killed your father."

"I know." Emi said. "But I'm here to keep him under control. I'm here to guard him out just in case he goes wild, which for the record he has never been. Trust me on this, Gabriel. It's useless for you to come here, as I have him on my watch."

"But you don't kill him?"

"It's not as simple as Ente Isla." Emi said. "The Devil takes a form of a person. It's a crime to kill a person like that. If he transforms into a devil, it would make it easier for me to gain my power to kill him. If you're going to just do it, it's going to ruin you as a person. And you're going to need a very good reason to just storm someone out with a machine gun out of the ether."

"You're... you're right." Gabriel said. "I should've reconsidered my tactics."

"Damn right you are!" Emi said. "Or else, a five year old is going to get shot in the head because of your stupidity! I'm going to do you a favor, Gabriel. I won't tell Maou about this, but you're going to have to do me a favor: Stop hunting for him or trying to kill him. He's under my control."

"Good lord." Gabriel said. "You're so emotionally attached to this wretched being that you would even call him by his name and not by his true identity."

"Oh for god's sake." Emi said. "I know that he can be a deceptive prick sometimes, but he's not going to go back to Ente Isla. He doesn't have enough magic. In fact, by your presence right now, you've triggered his rage. He could've gone through a rampage on finding you, but I got him to stay and calm down. I told him it's not worth it and guess what? He complied."

"The Devil would not listen to you." Gabriel said. "He would only listen to himself. Emilia, don't be deceived and seducted by his compliance. He's going to get that rage soon enough."

"And you're going to be that trigger." Emi said. "I guarantee you Gabriel. If you just stay and do nothing, Sasazuka would be a peaceful place because I'm in control. I don't want to put you as a villain here because you're not. So please, as the hero, I want you to stand down. You won't stand a chance against the devil, but I can control him."

Gabriel lowered his defenses. He had no right to go against Emilia. She had more experience on this, and she knew that he's not going to stop until the Devil is exterminated.

"As you wish, Emilia." Gabriel said. "I will stand down, but I must keep my watch."

"Where do you live, anyway?"

"I live not far from here." Gabriel said. "I just happen to notice you and I can't help but to greet you out."

"Well, just be glad that you notice me here right now." Emi said. "And just be glad that I convinced Maou-san to stand down. He's going to kill you."

Immediately after Emi said it, Gabriel disappeared out of the sight. Emi went back to her taxi to go back to her room. His presence was definitely quite the surprise. Not sure why Emeralda didn't tell her about it. Perhaps it was good to just ask her directly why she didn't just tell her.

"Hey Emeralda," Emi said.

 _"Oh hi, Emi!"_ Emeralda said. _"What's going on?"_

"You said that nobody came from Ente Isla." Emi said. "And yet Gabriel is here. What's going on with that?"

 _"Gabriel?"_ Emeralda said. _"I heard the news that he is being hunted by the higher Church for treason."_

"Treason?" Emi said. "What do you mean?"

 _"Treason for going against the Church's orders."_ Emeralda said. _"The Church wanted him to leave the demon business for them, but unfortunately he defied that rule. I don't know where the investigation leads, but rumor said that he escaped."_

"He escaped where?"

 _"I don't know."_ Emeralda said. _"Even if I knew, he would've escaped far away."_

"And you didn't think that he'd escape right here?" Emi asked.

 _"Hey, making a portal into your world takes quite the time."_ Emeralda said. _"Anyway, it's Gabriel so I wouldn't really worry too much unless if he use brainwash."_

"Well, I wouldn't have worried if he didn't have the guts to actually come in and blindly shoot an apartment." Emi said. "I got to go. I hope things are going well in there."

##

Everything was pretty much cleaned up the moment Maou entered back his room. Suzuno slept peacefully alone on the other side. Urushihara was left peaceful inside those udon carboard boxes. Ashiya was strangely busy with a phone call, and no doubt that it was Rika since they were incredibly friendly towards each other for some reason.

"Well, I guess I'd be sleeping now." Ashiya said. "Good night. And stay safe out there, okay?"

Ashiya closed the phone off. Maou was glancing at his best friend with puzzled eyes, but he knew what his intentions were.

"So are you really interested in her?" Maou asked.

"She's very nice." Ashiya said.

"Well, why don't you go ask her out?" Maou said. "She's really interested in you."

"Maou-sama, I find it interesting that you'd be concerned of my relationship with her." Ashiya said.

"Hey, I'm not interrupting at all." Maou said. "I'm just saying that if you're interested in her, well, I'm not going to stop you."

"I'm... interested." Ashiya said.

"Yeah you are." Maou said before realizing what Ashiya said. "Wait, are you?"

"Well, I'm interested in a sense that she is an interesting person." Ashiya said. "I would love to spend my time with her some more."

"In that case, I'd be helping you out, watching your date and everything."

"Date?" Ashiya barked. "I... she's an interesting person but I... don't want to have a date with her! I don't want to go into such lengths!"

"Well, you'd be surprised." Maou said. "Out of all the people that she called on the hospital, she called you. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Maou-sama, are you seriously suggesting that I take a date with a human?"

"Hey, I was dating Chiho last time and it went on just fine."

"If you think earthquakes are fine, then I guess you can call it that."

"What, you think I called in that earthquake?" Maou said. "You're funny, Ashiya. You really are."

"How else can you guarantee that our next date won't be squandered with any other Ente Isla beings?" Ashiya said. "What if demons from the depths of the ninth circle comes?"

Maou giggled. "Ashiya, don't be ridiculous. You were the General. They'd be bowing for you."

"Oh ah right."

There was a huge flash coming out of the sky. It flashed through the window, causing the two to interrupt their conversation. The flash got the two startled for a while. And after a few moments, a huge thunder stroke. The sound echoed all the way through the house and it was quite terrifying.

"The gods have shown their judgment." Ashiya said.

"Yeah." Maou said. "I thought I couldn't do it."


	9. Ente Isla Finds a Way

C09: Ente Isla Finds a Way

It was just a normal morning day in MgRonald's. Except this time, there wasn't Chiho to involve in. Maou promised to just take a break from one shift from Manager Kisaki and he never wanted to get through the lectures. Kisaki's lectures were always scary, and the last thing that he wanted is to be threatened by her presence.

The huge rain was really not helping. This was probably the biggest rain in Sasazuka yet. Lots of winds blowing and people preferred to stay inside, which is why not a lot of people are in MgRonald's right now. people were too busy avoiding the rain to get into their destination, and their last detination right now was freaking MgRonald's. Even SFC had to suffer from the consequences of this bad weather.

The restaurant wasn't entirely empty. There were still a few people who were forced to stay in here after the huge rain occupied them entirely. Some of the staff took a lunch break and even had some chats with one of the customers who were their friends. After all, MgRonald's took some locals who were willing to work out the fast food restaurants and give them decent wage for the day. There weren't a lot of tables to clean, and someone was already in front of the cashier. Not much to do today.

It's going to be a boring day.

After cleaning the table, Maou noticed two people running from the rain. One is a little girl and one is a man. The man was in his late 30s and the little girl was just on her pre-teens. The girl had a long white hair and red eyes. The man was significantly different, having medium grey hair, thick beards with the same color, and a nearby Friendly Supermarket dressing with the nametag "Hitoshi Satou". The man had his coat covering up the top of his daughter so she didn't get through the rain. It's quite a tight family connection, and through the banther it showed.

"Oh that was so close!" Hitoshi said. "Are you alright, Tsubasa?"

"Yes." Tsubasa said. "I'm fine, dad."

"Good lord. My working coat is wet. Someone needs to ask god to stop the rain." Hitoshi giggled. "So what are you going to order for today?"

"Can I pick my own orders?"

"Yeah definitely." Hitoshi said. "It's up to you."

"Okay."

Maou smiled. The girl had an incredibly sweet voice. It's the kind of voice that would make kittens sound like grunting 80s action movie heroes. Unfortunately there was one problem: Nobody was at the cashier.

Maou widened his eyes. He cursed mentally inside that someone would leave the place like that unmanned. He rushed through the staff room and in an instant, immediately popped in right in front of the father and daughter to pick up their orders.

"Welcome to MgRonald's!" Maou said. "How may I help you?"

"I uh... I'm going to take number 2." Hitoshi said. "Replace the cola with orange juice. And Tsubasa, what about you?"

"Can I have the chocolate Miro?"

"Yeah sure definitely." Hitoshi said. "And... what's for your lunch?"

"Same as you." Tsubasa said. "And can I get the uh... the... _ribs._ "

Maou froze still in place as the girl said something in a language that perhaps only a few people in this entire world would understand.

"Oh of course." Hitoshi said. "So two number twos, replace the cola with orange juice, chocolate Miro, and one of the number two is breast."

"Oh ah... yes I get it." Maou said. "Two number twos with one is ribs, orange juice, and chocolate Miro right?"

"Yes."

"Thanks!" Maou said. "That'd be ¥749.09."

##

After getting the orders right, Maou couldn't help but to get out of the cashier's duty and just to clean some tables. Thankfully, an employee was kind enough to replace his duty for once and let Maou to take care of the rest of the business. Maou however, was a lot more curious on how the girl got a hold on that kind of language in this sort of time. How could he had more Ente Isla beings coming right into him? He didn't want to have anything to do with that place again. Coming right there is going to be the last thing that he's going to ever do.

Thankfully he got an opportunity. Right after they got their orders, another customer just left their table. However, one employee, Koto, was pushing the cleaning trolley right near that table. He should probably do the cashier duties for now as Maou get on whatever kind of dialogues that they were having.

Maou walked right near Koto and asked him politely. "Hey Koto. I got the table. Go to the cashier."

"What?"

"I think I dropped my house keys in that table." Maou said. "I'm going to need to check it out."

"Oh alright." Koto said. "Go ahead."

With Koto leaving the scene, Maou had the opportunity to spend some time on eavesdropping the conversation. Maou started cleaning the table by just picking up the leftover bones and rices, while also listening to whatever kind of conversation that the father and daughter had. The language that they had right now is more of a confirmation of the entire thing, as they spoke entirely in Ente Isla.

 _"You should work out with your Japan, Acies."_ Hitoshi said. _"Tsubasa I mean. I just got used to on calling you that when I speak this language."_

 _"How do you think that we can find mom here?"_ Tsubasa said.

 _"Well, we're going to find her eventually."_ Hitoshi said. _"The recent suspicious activities that happened right here should lead us into them."_

 _"I really hope that we can see Emi as well."_ Tsubasa said.

Maou was cleaning the rubbish left down the table. Hearing that name coming out of the girl's mouth just stopped him from his activities entirely.

 _"Don't worry, Tsubasa."_ Hitoshi said. _"We'll get to your big sister too."_

In result of hearing that last line, Maou bumped his own head down the table. The noise was so noticeable it echoed throughout the entire room. Maou grunted on that awful damage that he did when the back of his head made contact with the table's metal support. He scratched the back of his head and, while still under the table, apologized to the rest of the people.

"Sorry! Sorry!"

##

There was an incredibly tingling feeling when he glanced at Hitoshi talking to Tsubasa like there was nothing happening. He couldn't even think of anything else. This is grand news. Emi's father is in Sasazuka with her sister and they're looking for her mother. They are both alive _and_ they are here. If there's one way for Maou to properly apologize to Emi - the last one wasn't convincing enough for him - this is the only way. This is the proper way to apologize.

Thankfully Maou already know things about this man. He managed to take the man's photo in secret with his brand new phone he got through monthly income. He worked on Friendly Supermarket so Maou knew where to begin looking for. His daughter has a noticeable white hair and a cute face. The one thing that he didn't know is his address.

The rain was dying down. When the father and daughter came, the rain was like pouring a large bucket full of cold water into someone's face. Now, it's like a constant droplets of water coming out of the same bucket. It's not too hard, but you're still going to get wet if you come out. Still, it's safe enough to go out that it wouldn't completely drench someone into wetness.

How about asking them directly? That's a good plan right? Well, what would happen if he did ask directly? They'd be extremely suspicious. He probably knew that the Hero is here looking for the Devil. Someone just came out of nowhere and said that he knew Emi. Calculations probably go that he's the Devil, because Emi wasn't with anyone else. Not to mention that Maou was cleaning the table from that entire conversation and just completely attracted the rest of the people inside the restaurant including of course the father and daughter. If he confronted them after they know that he eavesdropped their conversation, that's a huge alarm sign.

Not a good plan. Avoid entirely.

So he had no choice. He had to stalk them and follow them wherever they go. Hitoshi said that he'd be going home after all of this. So it should be easy to just follow them out. It's his final few hours of the shift anyway so he should definitely go and follow them out.

They quit the restaurant. Maou followed them from the back. He was hoping that they wouldn't see him out, but he was also hoping that they wouldn't suspect him following him entirely. He did bring his raincoat that he put on his new bike. The raincoat covered up most of his head so he wouldn't be found. They weren't too far away so it should be good to catch up with them at this rate.

But someone interrupted him. He stood up just as close as Maou's route on going towards the father and daughter. Maou glanced at the person and he understood something. There was his short spiky white hair and that boy-ish face that hinted everything.

Interrupting is not the right word. _Sabotage_ was more accurate.

"Stop!" the man said. "I will not let you take one step closer into a civilian."

"Eh?" Maou said. "I... Oh..."

For the record, he hasn't seen him in years. This was the same man who tried all sorts of tactics who get through the demon. Perhaps getting through a personal quest is something that he loved to do. The Devil never wanted his existence to come the same way he didn't want the perverted scum Sariel to be around. This was the man who was a bit clumsy and unskilled in combat, but considered by the angels and once admitted by the Hero as one of the most brilliant tactician in the history.

"Archangel Gabriel." Maou said. "Of all the people that they sent, they sent you."

"Yes." Gabriel said. "I see that you suspiciously follow a father and a daughter. What are you going to do with these innocent beings?"

"I'm not going to do anything." Maou said. "They're Emi's father and sister."

Gabriel gasped. "So you are going to use them as a bargain for the Hero?"

"What? No!" Maou said. "Why would I do that?"

"You're the Devil." Gabriel said. "You're going to do anything to use them."

"Hey, that's exactly why I can't talk to them right now." Maou said. "They're talking Ente Isla language right in the middle of MgRonald's like a bunch of foreigners and if I just go in front of them and say that I know Emi right after two Ente Isla attacks, they'll probably suspect me."

Gabriel shrugged. "The one thing that I'm surprised is that you're not turning into your devil form and force these two hostage."

"I won't do that." Maou said. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm looking for you, Maou." Gabriel said. "You're threatening the peace of Ente Isla."

"Eh? How!?" Maou said. "Look, I'm not going to Ente Isla. Tell me how I'm going to prove it. I'm not going to fight you at all."

"There is no way that you can convince me out of your power, you bastard!" Gabriel said. "You are going to die!"

Gabriel shouted as he pointed his finger towards Maou. Maou himself ignored the short grey haired former angel. He rode his bike and moved on from him. He was not important for this entire conversation, and he never wanted to get involved with him at all.

"Hey!" Gabriel said. "Come back and fight!"

"I don't have time for this, Gabriel." Maou said. "I need to go home. I got a morning shift tomorrow-"

"Stop right there!"

Two police officers stood right on Maou's way. One of them gave him the same 'stop there!' gesture that Gabriel gave and shouted his commands. Maou stopped on his tracks. He didn't know what he had done to deserve that kind of gesture.

"Is there something wrong, sir?" Maou asked. "I don't think you need a license to ride bikes."

"No, you don't." one policeman said. "But you're coming with us."

"Eh?" Maou said. "For what!?"

Gabriel turned around. "I recognized that the police has legitimate authority on everything. If you want to keep your life, then please comply to the officers."

"The hell?" Maou said. "I didn't even do anything! I... wait."

"I have my own personal army, Devil." Gabriel said. "You're not going to go anywhere."


	10. The Devil's Great Escape

_A/N: This is an early-released bonus chapter to celebrate a new cover that I made to replace the old one. What do you think?_

##

Maou's eyes bulged into ridiculous proportions. Something just came into his mind. Gabriel had authority towards the police officers, the only people who had the access to weapons that disappeared out of the storage room in the local Sasazuka police station. There is only one conclusion that he can think of after all of this debacle.

"Oh no." Maou said. "It was you, wasn't it? It was you who shot my Villa?"

"Yes, it was me." Gabriel said. "I didn't use police authority, though. When I first came into this world, I was trying to make a bank account when bank robbers with full assault gears and dangerous weapons stormed in. I'm able to brainwash them to do my bidding, and they were intimidating enough to become my personal army."

"And why didn't you have those bank robbers right now?" Maou said.

"I have recognized that it is illegal to keep them around." Gabriel said. "So I told them to shoot each other and dump their guns."

"What?" Maou said. "You told them to shoot each other? Freaking hell, why?"

"They have threatened to kill me." Gabriel said. "So I better do the right thing and kill them instead."

"Oh god." Maou said. "You're... you're insane."

"I'm not insane."

"You just told a bunch of people to shoot each other's head!" Maou said. "You brought a bunch of bank robbers on assault rifles to blindly shoot a villa! Even _I_ am not that deranged!"

"I cannot believe that such an evil brethren like you have standards." Gabriel said. "And I'm not putting the line here. You forced me to do these things."

"Me!?"

Maou dropped his bike. The noise was so loud it attracted a lot of people around the area. He didn't even care on putting the standard on. He just dropped it and marched towards Gabriel.

"Are you serious right now?" Maou said. "Let me tell you something: What I did in the past was horrible and we both can agree on that. What _you_ did was much worse. I might have blamed myself for everything that I have done, but then you come in and say that I'm the monster when I can't believe that you're the bigger monster in this room."

"You don't have the rights to judge my actions!" Gabriel said, moving backwards. "I'm not a monster! Just remember that you made me do all of this! I've seen innocent people die in your hands! They're good people just trying to survive in the hell you created! You think that I'm going to let you go after all of that? Not a chance."

"Then go right ahead." Maou said. "You are in full control of those cops and they have pistols in their pockets. Tell them to shoot me right in the head with all of these people seeing me and they're going to tell you who's the bigger monster. Go ahead. I'm waiting."

Gabriel and Maou were practically toe-to-toe on each other's face. He was not well-known for his combat prowess, but the past actions has proven that he is ruthless on his tactics. Maou didn't even glance at the police officer. The only people who is the huge problem is Gabriel, and he's really not helping in this sorts of matter. The only thing that he could do is to incite rage inside him.

"I'm not always right in a lot of issues, and so were you." Gabriel said. "Just know this, Demon. I'm not going to stop until I find the right moment to kill you."

"Hey, if you're going to make a threat, don't do it in public." Maou said. "people are going to think you're a crazy psycho. And for the record, you're the one in the offensive side, not me. If you come in here and you don't do anything, I'll ignore you for good. If you genuinely want to fight me, Emi wil tell you how to do it right."

"I've met her." Gabriel said. "She told me to avoid you."

Maou widened his eyes. "She said what?"

"She told me that I should avoid going after you or she will come after me."

"She said what?" Maou said, with a higher tone.

"She said that if I come right near you, she's going to deal with me."

"What?!" Maou said. "She said that? _She?!_ Of all people?"

"I was surprised myself."

Maou left his mouth hanging for a few second. Emi defended him. She, of all people, _defended_ him. Why would she do that? What are her motives behind going defensive towards the Devil? Well to be fair, she is defending him against a genuine threat like Gabriel who can use police authority to do whatever he wanted.

"But... why?" Maou said.

"You tell me." Gabriel said. "I'm going to let you go for this time. If I find one moment, just one moment of you doing anything remotely bad, I'm not going to be merciful."

"Merciful, right." Maou said. "Last night, you showed me how well you did your job: By missing your shot and hurting a little girl in the process."

"That's a mistake that I cannot forgive." Gabriel said. "I'll see you later, Satan."

Gabriel left about as early as he came in. Maou was completely baffled on why would he do such a thing. However, that wasn't his fault. If Gabriel is going to kill him, there was going to be a lot more panic. The two police officers went out of the scene a few moments later, but someone a little bit more surprising came along.

"So he's right?"

Maou turned around, only to find Hitoshi was looking at him. Maou got his eyes bulging. His shriek was like when ladies find cockroaches right on their toes. Loud, obnoxious, and completely out of character.

"I... I..." Maou said. "He's..."

"Is it true that you were following us?"

Thankfully the public was more interested to other things. They go on to their daily lives and it was left to Maou, Hitoshi, and Tsubasa... unfortunately.

"I..." Maou said. "Yes, but I can explain that!"

Hitoshi closed his mouth for a while, looking at the devil making ridiculous faces. He then sighed, putting his attention back to his daughter. After he nodded, Tsubasa glanced at Maou for a few seconds. Her red eyes glowed. Maou couldn't really control his body. He couldn't even move his hands. It seemed that Tsubasa got him on the edge.

"We're going to need to talk." Hitoshi said. "Follow me."

##

Maou snapped back into reality. What just happened? He was very sure that he was on the streets of Sasazuka just outside of his MgRonald's. Right now, he's inside a room, tied up in a chair. The tie was at least two layers being put on him. He wasn't sure why that would be the case. At this very moment, perhaps Gabriel should be the least of his worries. The last thing he remembered was seeing Hitoshi and Tsubasa, and that Tsubasa applied some form of magic on him.

"What?" Maou said. "What... What's going on?"

"I think you know why."

Hitoshi came in. He wanted to make sure that Gabriel was right. This demon could be sustained with lesser magic. He could also be manipulated through his will thanks to Tsubasa doing most of the work. Hitoshi was just a normal human after all, at least that's what Emi used to say.

"I cannot believe it with my own eyes." Hitoshi said. "Satan is tied up into a chair inside my house. What has this world come into?"

Maou glanced up, looking at Hitoshi with his hands crossed leaning into a wall. Hitoshi also had Tsubasa right next to him performing magic when something bad is happening. Maou wasn't even sure how much power Tsubasa had, and how much danger that she could bring towards the Devil.

"If someone like me can capture a demon, then my daughter should have no problem apprehending you." Hitoshi said. "All the archives I've collected from the church about her training. I believe to my whole heart that they have turned her into a soldier."

"You... heard from Gabriel himself." Maou said. "He said that Emi told him to get away from me. I'm surprised myself."

"And I still don't know why." Hitoshi said. "Tell me, what are you doing here in Sasazuka?"

"I escaped from Ente Isla." Maou said. "That war was too much of a nuisance I decided to just go away from it. I vowed to stay here with my friends and other Ente Isla beings."

"There are others?"

"Yes." Maou said. "For starters, Emi, your daughter, lives in an apartment and it takes a few stations from here. And then General Alciel. The demon Lucifer, and an Ente Isla assassin named Crysta Bell."

"General Alciel and Lucifer under your command and you've only commited two accidents?"

"Accidents?" Maou said. "Oh, you mean that time when Lucifer attacked? Believe it or not that wasn't me. That was Lucifer. And then you have the archangel Sariel and the church Olba. That one was not me as well. Don't worry, I got them both under control."

Hitoshi glanced at Tsubasa. She was using magic all this time. Maou wasn't sure what kind of magic, but interrogations usually use some form of truth-detection magic, and she confirmed it.

 _"He's telling the truth."_ Tsubasa said in Ente Isla language.

"Fascinating." Hitoshi said. "To think that the Devil would reveal the truth about certain things."

"Hey, I'm not that bad of a person you know?" Maou said. "Didn't you see what Gabriel wanted to do to me?"

"I've seen it." Hitoshi said. "I believed that he would do such a thing and I find it unbelievable that he didn't just do it. He knows that you're the devil. So the best way to end this entire war is to end you right there."

"Which is why I shouted it out loud." Maou said. "If he kills me in front of everyone, it will cause panic and despair, which is the source of my magical powers. I'll turn into a demon to fight him one on one and that will cause even more panic. The more panic he draws, the more powerful I am. If he wants to kill me, he should be a lot more silent to it."

"Gabriel?"

"The Archangel." Maou said. "So what are you going to do with me? Why did you kidnap me here? And why tie me up?"

"I just wanted to make sure that you didn't do anything funny." Hitoshi shrugged. "And also, I want to know where my daughter is."

"Hey, relax." Maou said. "Don't worry. I'll let you know where she is. If you can at least let me go off of this rope, I'll tell you where she is, but I have a much better plan."

Hitoshi was still skeptical on it, so he called for his daughter's help. "Tsubasa."

"He's telling the truth." Tsubasa said. "And he doesn't have any bad intentions or any bad feelings towards big sister."

"Are you sure?" Hitoshi said. "He might have used magic against you!"

"I'm sure, dad." Tsubasa said. "It doesn't seem like he's willing to do anything bad."

Hitoshi paused and gave some thoughts about it for a moment. He glanced back at Maou and then walked towards him. He took a small knife out of his pockets and slid it into the ropes, cutting the layers off of his ties. With Maou now free, Hitoshi took a few steps backwards just to see where he's going.

"Thanks." Maou said. "I get why you're doing this, but you don't really have to."

"Why didn't you come to us first?"

"And tell you that I'm the Devil? No, I can't do that." Maou said. "I was planning to know where you live so that I can surprise Emi to come and take a visit."

"You were planning to surprise her?"

"Yeah." Maou said. "Just text me the address of this house. After that, I'll get Emi to come in here, but I have to do it tomorrow at noon because I have a shift."

"And letting you go?" Hitoshi said. "You're not going to get away that easily."

"Alright, how about this?" Maou said. "I'll tell you where Emi lives so that you can visit her yourself, but I don't want to do that."

"Why not?"

"Because... Emi had bad feelings towards me." Maou said. "No surprise really knowing that I'm the Devil, but when she was angry towards me for invading her land, she brought you up as her personal reason. She told me that you died, which is the one driving reason why she wanted to fight me in the first place. I thought if I can bring her to you, she can... forget about it at least."

"You... really feel that?" Tsubasa asked.

"Yes." Maou said. "I've been in fights with Emi ever since we met in this world, but honestly I don't want us to fight. I want it to over. She's really nice to me and to everyone. I wouldn't hurt someone like her at all. I just want to be friends."

Hitoshi had his mouth hanging open for quite a while.

"If you're still not sure about me, I'll tell you her address." Maou said. "She doesn't know that I sent you there, but at least she knows that you're alive."

"Wait!"

Hitoshi stopped him from saying anything further before asking the one and important question.

"Assuming that you were honest about all of that," Hitoshi said. "Are you... really the Devil?"


	11. The Devil's Identity Complex

C11: The Devil's Identity Complex

It was understandable that Maou-sama didn't always come on the night, but this was a bit unacceptable. He didn't answer his phone calls. He didn't get his dinner. What did he eat for dinner anyway? Only Ashiya was the one who made the dinner for this time. Thankfully despite being a NEET as always, Urushihara was slightly more useful. That required at least a little bit of push from Suzuno, but he appreciated it regardless because there is actual change.

"Urushihara," Ashiya said. "Have you been in contact with Maou-sama?"

"Yes, but he didn't reply." Urushihara said, tampering with whatever he's in on his laptop. "I called him a couple of times."

"You?" Ashiya said. "You've been trying to call him?"

"Yes." Urushihara said. "For one, I wanted to ask him about something."

"About what?"

"Do you know that there's a bank robbery happening in Sasazuka a couple of days ago?" Urushihara said.

"Bank robbery?"

"Yeah." Urushihara said. "It's one of the weirdest bank robberies that I've ever read. For one, they didn't steal anything. And for two, one civilian literally asked the leader of the robbers to stop robbing and he just complied."

"What?" Ashiya said. "Do you think..."

"I think these bank robbers got into the police station, stole a bunch of gears, and attempted to rob a bank." Urushihara said. "But someone hypnotized them to do whatever kind of bidding they wanted, which includes coming into the Devil's Castle and shooting it into pieces."

"Who... who would do that?" Ashiya said.

"And then I've found reports that a few dead bodies are found inside a warehouse not far from here." Urushihara said. "These dead bodies are later identified as the same bank robbers as last time."

"Oh my." Ashiya said. "So whoever this person is, he used hypnosis magic to get away from it and he removes evidences including the people who were trying to shoot him?"

"Yeah." Urushihara said. "If it's an angel, the one thing that I'm surprised about is that he doesn't use the magic to his full power. He figured that using too much magic will cause panic, and therefore too much power for the demon."

"Do you know anyone who might do that sort of thing?"

"I don't." Urushihara said. "But knowing that I've been calling him for the past couple of hours and he didn't reply, maybe he is in danger and-"

"Evening."

Speak of the Devil, quite literally perhaps.

"Maou-sama?" Ashiya said. "Oh I'm glad that you're here. I thought you were in danger."

"Well, I _was_ in danger."

"What!?" Ashiya said. "What... what happened? Did Emi try to attack you?"

"Worse." Maou said. "Archangel Gabriel is here."

Ashiya sharpened his eyes. "Archangel... Gabriel?"

"What is he doing around here?" Urushihara said. "Last I heard, he was banished out of Ente Isla for defying the Church's orders."

"You didn't ask where he was banished?" Maou asked.

"That was like months ago." Urushihara said. "God knows what happens by then."

"If this is true, Maou-sama, we're going to need preparations." Ashiya said.

"Or better yet, do nothing." Maou said

"What?" Ashiya said. "Maou-sama, Archangel Gabriel is one of the most ruthless tacticians in the entirety of our war. He's not going to hesitate on killing you whatever it takes."

"He does make mistakes, however." Maou said. "He tried to kill me in public. I told him that if he does so, he's going to cause panic, which in turn will heal me from whatever kind of injuries that I have and turn me into a demon. Therefore, I can fight him that easily."

"So is he the one trying to shoot us last time?" Urushihara asked.

"Yes, that's him." Maou said. "Although doing nothing is I guess too generous of an action. I say we should be careful, mainly because he has control over the entire police department."

"What?" Ashiya said.

"At least I think he has." Maou said. "I think I know what he's going to do next. He's going to kidnap me and put me in a place where no one is looking. After that, he's going to tell one of the police officers to shoot me right in the head. When he kills me without any witness, there won't be any panic and his mission is complete, but I guess he made a tactical mistake confronting me when I was following someone."

"Following who?" Ashiya asked.

"Emi's father." Maou said. "He's alive."

##

"Oh I see." Ashiya said. "So what are you going to do about all of it?"

"Well, I'm going to invite Emi for a surprise." Maou said. "I'm hoping that she wants to come with me."

"Are you saying that you're going to have a date with Emi?" Urushihara said.

"A date!?" Maou said. "I'm not dating her! I'm just asking her out for..."

Urushihara had a grin on his face. Ashiya had pretty much the same grin.

"'Ask her out'." Maou said. "That's a bad way to phrase it."

"I'm sorry, Maou." Urushihara said. "I don't know why you care about Emi so much. You followed his father all the way into his house and you confronted an enemy just for that. It's an unusually huge dedication for a hero."

"I'm not dating her, ever." Maou said. "I'm just going to tell her what's going on."

"Why?" Urushihara said.

"Because she's my friend." Maou said.

"I gotta say, you just declared one of your biggest enemies as your friend." Ashiya said. "Maou-sama, are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Maou said. "She's my enemy in Ente Isla. But in this world, she's my friend. The last thing that I want for her to feel is hatred. Besides, one of the reasons why she hated me is because I killed her father. I thought that if I bring him to her, she's going to forgive me."

"You said that she forgave you." Ashiya said.

"Yes she did." Maou said. "But I don't think she did that because she wanted to. I think that she did that because I don't want to go revenge to Gabriel. She did one of the weirdest thing that I've seen from her."

"What's that?" Ashiya said.

"Gabriel met her first, and she defended me." Maou said.

"She defended you? Why?" Ashiya asked.

"Yeah." Maou said. "I wanted to meet her about this, and I don't know why she's doing all of that. Maybe tomorrow I'll find out. I'm going to see if she has time after work to talk about this."

"Well, just be careful when you're doing it, Maou-sama." Ashiya said. "If this is such an important matter to you, I can only say good luck on it."

"Thanks, Ashiya." Maou said. "Oh and uh what do I have for dinner?"

##

There was one question that was always hanging on Emi's head. How come the people who were supposed to be the good guys came off as bad in this world? Does this really give the distinction and shine on the fact that the people on Ente Isla are mere exaggeration of their roles? Olba Meyer is a corrupt member of the Church. Sariel is one depraved scum of an 'angel'. Then Gabriel came in and showed how ruthless he is in terms of not taking people's business seriously. What happened in the realms? Is the world she was living in about as simple as they made it to be?

Moments of contemplating what happened in the past couple of months made her unable to sleep. There was no telling how Maou could turn evil at any time of the day, but at the same time there was also no telling how the Angels could hurt her in any way. Their mentality on going through things were simple: Either she's with them or against them. It's an outdated mentality, but then again Ente Isla is ancient compared to what's going on in this world.

Her phone vibrated. She wanted to just take a few moments and contemplate what's going on, but her phone had to interrupt it. Someone would call in 8:22 PM, and it was quite unexpected of him to call.

"Hello?" Emi said.

 _"Hey, Emi."_ Maou said.

"Never thought that you'd be calling me at this time." Emi said. "I never thought that you'd be calling me at all."

 _"Yeah, well I need to talk to you about something."_ Maou said. _"And I can't talk to you on the phone. It's kind of... personal."_

"Personal?"

 _"I've got something... quite shocking."_ Maou said. _"I can't tell you about it. I have to show you."_

"Show me?" Emi said. "Show me what?"

 _"Can you meet me in MgRonald's tomorrow at five?"_ Maou said. _"I'll show you. Don't worry."_

"I somehow have a bad feeling about this." Emi said. "If you're tricking me, I'm going to find out."

 _"No tricks."_ Maou said. _"In fact, if I am pulling any tricks, you can do anything you want to me."_

"Okay fine." Emi said. "Tomorrow at five. I'll be in your little fast food restaurant. Don't lie to me about this."

 _"I'm not lying."_ Maou said. _"Although there is something that I want to talk to you right now and it's a little bit less important."_

"What is?"

 _"You met Gabriel, didn't you?"_

Emi took a pause for a moment. "Yes. What about it?"

 _"You know that he's the one pulling the shots in Villa Rosa?"_

"Yeah." Emi said. "I punched him for that. Don't worry about it."

 _"Well, I'm surprised."_ Maou said. _"I didn't even punch him. Although to be fair, a lot of people are witnessing us and he had two cops on his back."_

"That is troublesome."

 _"You can't imagine."_ Maou said. _"So uh... what you do you think about it?"  
_

"I think it was quite shocking." Emi said. "I mean I never thought that the Church is banishing him here. What's going on? Did he do something to you?"

 _"Well, almost."_ Maou said. _"And unfortunately it's quite concerning. I mean he had control of two cops last time and I'm kind of worried that he might control more of them."_

"Cops? Well, that's dangerous." Emi said. "I mean if he had control of the entire cops, he's going to easily get to you."

 _"You're right."_ Maou said. _"You know, he mentioned that you defended me when he confronted you. Well, I just want to say thanks for that."_

"I... yeah I did." Emi said. "You're welcome. I mean I didn't really defend you because you're the devil. I defend you because he's still human at that time you know? If he's going to shoot you blindly, it's not going to end well in this world, especially considering that he's not a powerful magician to begin with."

 _"Well, both of us can open the gate to Ente Isla at any moment."_ Maou said. _"And both of us decided not to. I just wonder why didn't you go back?"_

"Me?" Emi said. "Well, I didn't because you don't want to. If I go back to Ente Isla, what am I going to do there? I mean with you escaping here, the war is practically over. And if I go back, you're going to cause a lot more trouble right here."

 _"So it's all up to me?"_ Maou said. _"That is interesting."_

"Don't get any ideas." Emi said. "I'm going to follow you anywhere you go. If you do something bad, I'll always going to know about it."

 _"I'm not really sure why Emeralda has to send you those supplements."_ Maou said. _"I mean we barely got a monster attack for like three months until now."_

"What, you think Gabriel is a monster?"

 _"He shot the entire Villa Rosa and put Chiho in hospital. What else can you want?"_ Maou said. _"Oh and the people he ordered to shoot the Villa? They were bank robbers. He got them coincidentally, and after he told them to shoot Villa Rosa, he told them all to shoot each other."_

"Really?"

 _"Urushihara told me that it's on the news."_ Maou said. _"Gabriel even admitted to me about it. I'm the Devil and even I say that it's diabolical."_

"No kidding." Emi said. "So is he our enemy now? Our third common enemy?"

 _"Well, Urushihara was our common enemy, but he's not really now isn't he?"_ Maou said. _"And Sariel? I tossed him out back to where he belongs. If he's here, he's going to be sent into jail right away."_

Emi scoffed. "The first thing that I want to happen to him is for him to be sodomized with a broom up his ass."

 _"Whoa, that's evil."_ Maou said.

"Don't care. I can have my own evil desires." Emi said. "That guy deserved it. Plain and simple."

Maou giggled over the phone.

"What?" Emi asked.

 _"Nothing."_ Maou said. _"It's just... I never had a chance to talk with you personally like this, and every time I do, I always find it surprising."_

"Surprising?" Emi said.

 _"Never mind."_ Maou said. _"I'll see you tomorrow."_

"Hey, Maou!"

Maou closed the conversation off. Why would he end it in such a note? And why made it clear for her to listen?


	12. In the End, They're All The Same

C12: In the End, They're All the Same

Emi has finished her shift. All she needed to do is to change into her casual clothing right after her working clothes. Rika just finished her shift as well. She was about to offer some spare time to play around, but Rika had something else in her mind and that she was preoccupied with other things. Or specifically, someone else.

"Hey, Rika?" Emi asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any plans tonight?" Emi said. "I mean you look pretty fired up today."

"Oh it's nothing, Emi." Rika said.

"Is it about Ashiya?"

Rika's face went blank. Her blush was the most prevalent thing appearing right in her face. Not sure how she was supposed to take that one.

"It's... not him." Rika said.

"Just be honest, Rika." Emi said. "Maou just..."

Emi widened her eyes when she realized that Maou just asked her out to go for something. She didn't really know what it was, but from the sound of it, it sounded important and _personal._ That word alone caught her interest. What was so personal about this meeting?

"What did Maou do?" Rika asked.

"Oh, nothing! Nothing!" Emi said.

"Well, then my answer would be the same." Rika said. "Are you going out with him?"

"I..." Emi said. "Well... I guess so."

Rika's face went into an instantaneous change into a bright smile. Of course, the teasing was completely expected from her.

"Oh my god, really!?" Rika said. "You're really going out with him?"

"It's not a-"

Without even a warning, Rika hugged Emi out in a tight spot, completely putting her in this awkward position.

"Congratulations, Emi!" Rika said. "Whatever happens, I got your back, okay?!"

"It's... not a date!" Emi said. "I don't know what it is, but he asked me to go and he told me it's important."

"Can you think of what it is?"

"At least let me go off for a second!"

##

After changing some clothes. Emi had a conversation with Rika on the elevator.

"Personal?" Rika said. "At least try to find out what that means."

"I'm trying to, I really am." Emi said. "I don't know. I mean personal to whom? Me? Or is it Maou?"

"Do you know Maou on that personal level?"

"No, I don't." Emi said. "I don't know a lot of personal things from him. He never told me about his mom or even his dad."

"So I guess he means that it's personal to you."

"Yeah, I guess." Emi said. "But what is he trying to prove? I mean the only thing personal between me and Maou is that he... killed my father."

"Eh?!"

Rika froze still. Emi just realized what she just said and it slipped right through. Rika went on to shake Emi out of consciousness, pushing and pulling her to get her to snap back to reality.

"HOW CAN YOU JUST LET HIM GO LIKE THAT?!" Rika said. "HE KILLED YOUR FATHER AND NOW YOU'RE FRIENDS WITH HIM? WHAT?!"

"Re... relax... he didn't literally kill him." Emi said. "I mean he killed my father's um... career."

Rika let Emi go for a few seconds. "Your father's career?"

##

The two friends went out of the elevator and continued their conversation.

"I knew about the company that they were running." Emi said. "They ruined my father's life. With that, he couldn't get any more job and he got stressed out. If not for my mother, I don't even know how he can live. That's why I trained myself to become better. I studied with the best and I finally got the job to where they used to work. I screwed them over and I'm good."

"Oh god." Rika said. "Why does your story have to sound so epic?"

"Maybe because... it is?" Emi said. "It is quite an epic tale of revenge, although if there's one thing I have to admit it was a bit clichéd. I got my revenge, the Devil that is Maou dropped out of his company, and now what? We're now living in peaceful terms, hanging out just like friends. You know I kind of feel bad to him."

"Feel bad?"

"Yeah, I feel bad of course." Emi said. "I ruined someone else's life so that I can get what I want. I mean I'm no better than..."

Emi stopped on her track and widened her eyes on that realization. Throughout this entire story, she just implied that whatever kind of actions that she did, regardless of how personal it is, has turned her into what she really is right now: A wolf in sheep's clothing. A monster fighting another monster.

"I'm no better than them." Emi said.

"What happened to your company now?" Rika said.

"I sold them off." Emi said. "I'm not much of a manager. I took the company out and I put those two out into shame. I'm done with it. I'll let someone else to lead it for me. I go to work somewhere else, but I can't believe I find them here in this... really sorry state."

"You really should apologize, Emi." Rika said. "You know, I'm going out with Ashiya soon."

"Eh?"

"You're being honest with me when you said that you're going out with Maou, so yes I'll be honest too." Rika said. "If you want to apologize for something, I'll tell him right away."

"I..." Emi sighed. "I guess you're right, but I'll better tell him myself."

"I'll tell him anyway." Rika said. "And please be good to Maou. I feel really bad for him. He's a genuine hard worker and you ruined his life."

"I... I will." Emi said. "I promise."

"Oh, there he is!"

Emi didn't realize that they were already outside. Rika waved her hand towards Ashiya in the distance. Emi didn't even realize that he was there, but perhaps it's a good chance to say sorry. Rika and Emi approached Ashiya who was waiting right in front of their office. Surprised to say that he found them right here.

"Ashiya!" Rika said. "I'm glad that you make it here."

"Well, it's pretty easy to find nearby." Ashiya said. "I'm not too familiar of using smartphones, but the GPS is surprisingly useful and easy to use."

"Of course it is." Emi said. "You should be using that more often."

"And uh... Ashiya," Rika said. "Emi wants to say something."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah." Emi said. "Remember about our war for taking over company stuff?"

"Of course I do."

"You ruined my father's career." Emi said. "You... ruined a lot of people career. I came in to revenge, but I realized that I also ruined a lot of people's career including yours. I just want to say sorry."

"Well, I guess that makes us even." Ashiya said.

"Well, you're right on that one." Emi said. "I might think that you don't deserve it, but I guess I ruined your reputation as well, and it's all because I thought you deserved it. I'm... sorry."

"Don't be." Ashiya said. "I did it first, so I guess I get where you're coming from. You're going to meet Maou later, right? You might try to tell him that too."

"I'll tell him as well." Emi said. "Thanks."

##

Maou was hanging his Dullahan bicycle as he waited for Emi. He didn't put it on a stand. Emi was the type of person who'd go in time. So she should definitely be here in any given time, hopefully not too far away from the situation. A taxi approached MgRonald's and sure enough, Emi came out of the taxi. Maou sighed, relieved that at least she knew where and when to listen to.

"Hey, Emi." Maou said. "I'm glad you came."

"You're glad?" Emi said. "That's a first."

"Actually, that's a second." Maou said. "Or maybe a third... or maybe fourth."

"Wait, when was the first?"

"I think when I vowed to stay here." Maou said. "Or maybe when you saved me from that scam."

"Oh yeah right. You know, you're unusually happy when I'm around. Am I..." Emi raised her eyebrow on the implication. "Are you...?"

"No, not at all." Maou said. "I'm just... surprised that you'd listen. I thought that you're going to disband me or consider me a devil."

"Well, we just talked about that in great detail, didn't we?" Emi said. "Doesn't matter. You might be stupid at times, but I know that you can be smart. Do you know about Ashiya's fake story trying to cover up what happens in Ente Isla?"

"Huh?" Maou said. "Oh cover story. Yeah, I remember. Anyway, let's talk about it while I show you where to go."

"Jeez, I can't believe I forgot the reason why I came in here."

"Not that you'd remember anyway." Maou said. "I was too vague about it. Don't worry, I won't be vague this time."

##

With that, Maou grabbed his Dullahan bicycle and walked with Emi. He didn't ride it though. He just tagged it along. Hitoshi's house weren't too far away from MgRonald's thankfully, and he was able to bring Emi right there without any problems.

"So... what about Ashiya's fake story?" Maou asked.

"Well, it made me think." Emi said. "I told Rika that you came in and ruined my life. Well, my father's life to be exact."

"I thought you already forgiven me about it."

"I... did... did I?" Emi said. "Well, the point is that I told Rika that you ruined my father's life. To be fair, I didn't say that you killed him. I just said that you killed his career. That's technically true, right?"

"Well yes," Maou said. "That is if you can prove your father is alive."

"Which he's not, unfortunately."

"Emi, I'm sorry okay?" Maou said. "If something happened to your dad, the blame is all on me. I'm the one entirely responsible to him. You don't have to blame me again."

"I'm not blaming you... at least not now." Emi said. "My dad's gone for like years anyway. From what it looked like, it wouldn't make any difference if it was anyone else's fault."

"So what about the story?"

"Huh? Ah, yes." Emi said. "You know, there's something strange when I try to phrase it, or at least connect it with some real life elements. Ashiya says it's corporate warfare. If I put that in the story, you ruined my dad's career and I vowed for revenge. I went out and I ruined all of your careers. And now I'm on the top."

"So I ruined your career, then in turn you ruined ours?" Maou said. "I guess that makes you no better than me."

"Right." Emi said. "That's why I want to say sorry."

"Hey, I started all of this." Maou said. "For one thing, _I'm_ the one who should be sorry."

"So if your idea of apologizing to me is a date night, I think I'm going to pass." Emi said. "What is so special and personal about this anyway?"

"Here we are."

They arrived at Satou's residence. The house was an apartment complex and Hitoshi lived in the third floor at room 303. Should be easy to follow by that time, but Maou had to park his bike right there.

"So... what are we going to find here?" Emi asked.

"Don't worry. You'll see."

##

Maou brought Emi right in the front door of Room 303. All he needed to do is to ring the bell and let the feels come in. At this time of day, Hitoshi should be at his house so there had to be no more worries regarding him opening the door. Tsubasa was not too bothersome as long as he could explain it, but the only one who can explain his existence is himself.

"Emi, are you ready for this?"

"Ready for what?" Emi said. "I don't even know what you're going to show me."

"Right."

Maou pressed the doorbell. It didn't take long for Hitoshi to reply from the other side of the door.

"I'm coming!"

Maou glanced at Emi who widened her eyes slightly, but still skeptical on the truth. Emi was not prepared for the one person behind that door, and the one who opened it for her.

"Evening,"

Hitoshi opened that door. There was a slight pause from Emi, startled and confused of what she saw right in front of her. And then, there was bewilderment. She widened her eyes. Not a single part of her body twitch. However, she needed some confirmation, so she called it out on him.

"D... Dad...?"

Hitoshi paused before confirming what Emi stated. "Emi..."

That's when Emi raised her hand to cover her mouth in astonishment, dropping her purse along the way. Hitoshi smiled, bits of tears coming out of his face. A lot more tears come out of Emi's eyes, and her expression was something that Maou cannot express, because he was not familiar with these sorts of emotions.

Emi broke out in tears, shrieking in joy as she rushed towards her father and hugged him tight. It was a hug that she would never let go, knowing that she had lost him once and she would never ever lose him again. Even as a Devil, he understood the feeling of losing something. Once that thing is lost, he didn't even realize that he had it. That power is something that he held dearly on his heart, even if it meant the power of controlling over others.

Perhaps, after all, they were all the same.

##

 _A/N: No, this is NOT the end._


	13. The Hero & The Devil Reconcile

Right after that wonderful hug of someone that she did not see for decades, Emi was served with dinner. Hitoshi was inclined to give a fresh well-made Rosemary tea to calm her nerves down after the excitement of seeing her long lost member of her family return into her grasp. Emi had never looked this incredibly happy before. The Blood Knight Angelic side of her trying to kill the Demon has vanished, just by the sight of her dad around her.

"It's Rosemary Tea." Hitoshi said. "And my Japanese name is Hitoshi Satou. Try to remember it."

Emi giggled. "It's not like I'm going to call you that, Dad."

"Well, just in case if you're going to need to fill in some history forms or resumes." Maou said. "As far as I know, you're going to need family names to be put in there."

"Maou is right." Hitoshi said. "And I honestly cannot believe that you stick up to your words. I'm impressed. I'm... really glad you did."

"Hey, I'm just doing what's right." Maou said. "The one thing that I'm surprised at is how Emi doesn't accuse me of casting illusion magic."

"You didn't even know how my dad looked." Emi said. "Besides, if it's illusion magic, I would've known. That actually reminds me of something."

"Yes. It's the big elephant in the room." Hitoshi said. "How I survived that massacre in our village. Well simply put, I managed to escape."

"Then how can you get into this world?" Emi said.

"Some of the angels managed to open a world into multiple universes that are used as refuges, but we were warned that this might be a permanent one." Hitoshi said. "I happened to land in this universe with Tsubasa."

"Tsubasa?" Emi asked.

"She was once known as Acies Ara." Hitoshi said. "She's just a child with magical trainings and abilities. We met during the evacuation, but she was split from her parents. So for that moment, I had to take care of her until I meet her real parents, which was probably unlikely."

"Is this the only alternative universe that the angels opened?" Maou asked.

"I don't know." Hitoshi said. "The Angels said that it's multiple universes, but I'm hoping that this is the only world that they opened. I've heard about the concept of multiple universes first, and I'm just lucky that I landed in a world where no war happens."

"Well, we technically still have a war, but at least it's not in this part of this world." Maou said.

"Yeah." Emi said. "So you're seeking refuge right here?"

"Yes." Hitoshi said. "I never thought that you'd be here with the Devil himself, let alone have a good relationship with him."

"Relationship?" Emi said. "Well, we're just... friends."

"Yeah, we're just friends." Maou said. "The thing is we're always confronted with common enemies. I guess that always puts us in that kind of sitaution. Three months ago, the Archangel Sariel kidnapped Emi and attacked all of us."

"An Archangel attacked you?" Hitoshi asked.

"He kidnapped me and almost stripped me naked." Emi said. "Sariel infiltrated us from the grown up and he attacked not only Maou but me as well."

"Did he?"

"Yes, and I'm not kidding." Emi said. "I cannot believe that an Archangel would do that. I mean why would he?"

"I cannot believe it either." Maou said. "I saved you out of there and the only thing that I got is a slap in the face."

"That's because you're an equally horrible pervert!" Emi said. "My shirt's open and you looked at it!"

"I told you to close it off."

"No you didn't!" Emi said. "You just said that it's open! That's why I slapped you off!"

"At least I warned you so that no one else can look at it." Maou shrugged.

"No one else?" Emi said. "And what's with that flat-chest comment?"

"Hey, that's a fact!" Maou said. "If you can't stand having A-Cup Angst, then you'd better start working out."

"What?" Emi grabbed Maou's neck collar and raised it up to threaten him. "Are you seriously going to insult my cup right now?"

"Hey hey, let's be fair here." Maou said, eyes closed and a nervous smile. "I admit it's getting near the C level."

Maou got slapped properly for this. As he lie down on the ground knocked out, Emi crossed her hands and glanced over at her dad. He seemed a bit pleased, but maybe for the wrong reasons.

"You know Emi," Hitoshi said. "If people have been calling you both a couple, I guess I know why."

"What?" Emi asked.

"The belligerent sexual tension is very noticeable." Hitoshi said.

"But... Dad..." Emi said. "I won't date him, ever!"

"Really? Because it sounds like you're dating him right now." Hitoshi said. "He give me your address and your phone number, but he kept his promise and brought you here. And if what he said about saving your life a couple of times is true, then I think you should give him a little bit of gratitude."

"Not in the mood, Dad." Emi said. "I'm _really_ not in the mood."

"You're just as stubborn as when you were a little girl." Hitoshi said before he giggled and stood up from his place. "Fine then. I'd suggest both of you to take some time to pause, breathe, and let bygones be bygones. I'm going to pick Tsubasa up from her Japanese lessons."

"Japanese lessons?"

"Oh, she's not really good at Japanese." Hitoshi said. "So I took her to a friend of mine who knew a Japanese language teacher. She's good at it."

"Well, she could've use magic to get an info on that."

"It seems that it only works for me and not her. I don't know why but I'm trying to figure it out as well." Hitoshi said. "Anyway, I'll let you stay in for a while. Make yourselves at home."

"Even for Maou?"

"At this moment, I don't really care if people call him the Devil or not." Hitoshi said. "I mean is he really the Devil? I expect him to be a lot more sinister and not... well... this. And for the record, he fulfilled his promise and reunited me with a family member who were long lost gone. And you confirmed that he saved you a couple of times. It's not the actions of a Devil. I wouldn't think a Devil would do that."

"Then who would?"

"I couldn't say a hero." Hitoshi said. "A friend is more like it."

Emi bit her lips. "Yeah, I guess. Oh and Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know where mom is?" Emi asked.

"Lailah? No I don't, but I'm confident that she's in this universe." Hitoshi said. "Well, I guess you can say that it's one of the reasons why I'm here. I thought she's going to be attracted here with that event three months ago."

"I... guess you're right." Emi said. "So we're going to find her as well?"

"I hope we can find her." Hitoshi said. "And after that, we're going to have a huge family reunion. Make sure you invite Maou for that one."

"I..." Emi glanced at Maou, who was sleeping thanks to Emi knocking him out with a full force. "Fine."

"Emi," Hitoshi crouched and approached Emi. He hugged her tight and uttered the three magic words. "I love you."

"Hey, don't say it like that, Dad." Emi said. Her tone got sadder. "It feels like another goodbye."

"It won't be." Hitoshi said.

"I really hope not. I'm not going to lose you again like last time." Emi said. "I love you too. Be careful, okay?"

"It's just a few walks from here. Don't worry."

Hitoshi released the hug and went out of the room to pick Tsubasa up. Emi could only sit there with a smile, but not a really optimistic one.

##

Maou woke up from Emi's sudden punch. Emi brought the last Rosemary tea to bring him up into conscious. He was downright surprised that his demonic powers wouldn't resist the taste of a good tea.

"Uh... what?" Maou said, opening his eyes lazily.

"Wake up." Emi said. "I guess I knocked you out pretty good."

"I... well... no kidding." Maou grabbed his head, groaning. "Urgh, that hurts you know?"

"Sorry." Emi said. "I'm a total bitch who got a serious temper. I... shouldn't have done that."

"I don't know why people are still calling you a hero when you have this temper."

"Yeah well, they don't call me that anymore don't they?" Emi said, smiling.

Maou returned the smile with a little bit of a giggle. "How do you feel, Emi?"

"What?" Emi said. "What do you mean how do I feel?"

"I just want to know." Maou said. "Well if you ask me, I'm happy that you and your dad are together again. I guess that's one less burden for me."

"Burden?"

"Now that I know you and humans, I feel guilty for doing a lot of the bad things I did, you know?" Maou said. "I barely knew you. I don't know who you are as a person. Then that stupid war happens and we do a lot of things that are questionable at best without even knowing what kind of impact that it brings to one another."

"Yeah well, I'm just a bit surprised that you'll be asking me that." Emi said. "Well, I can't really describe it, Maou. I miss him so much. I... never thought that I can see him again, you know? I'm so angry about what you did, but now... I guess it doesn't really matter anymore."

"It doesn't, Emi." Maou said. "I've told you that I want to move on, but it seems like the more I try to move away from Ente Isla, it always finds a way to get near me. Maybe I should go a whole lot further than this."

"You don't have to, you know that?" Emi said. "Ente Isla is pretty far away already, and I doubt that you're going to change by going far away from it. You just need to deal with the problems and talk with the right people."

"You're right." Maou said. "Which is why you're here."

"Well, it's not just me." Emi said. "I'm mostly here to make sure that you don't turn into a Devil and take over Japan."

"I'll be the Manager of MgRonald's before I get to take over the world."

"I hope that they'll keep you behind the cashier instead."

Maou giggled, with Emi following shortly after.

Throughout this entire conversation, Emi was sitting right next to Maou, leaning on the same wall as him. She had her rosemary tea right near her. It seemed like Emi was enjoying the conversation, but how can Maou know about it? She wasn't the type to be open for feelings. The best way for Maou to at least make amends with her is to be open, and this was exactly what he did.

"So um..." Maou said. "You met with Ashiya?"

"Yeah." Emi said. "He's going out with Rika. Actually, I was about to ask you something."

"What?"

"I guess we should get less angry often." Emi said. "For the record, both my dad and Rika are thinking that we're dating or something."

Maou scoffed. "Do you think this is a date?"

"No, I don't think so."

"If it is?"

"What?" Emi glanced at Maou. "You think this is a date?"

"Well, we're both going out together and have fun." Maou said. "Does that qualify as a date?"

"Well, that would require me having fun." Emi said. "I'm not having fun."

"Really?" Maou said. "I just reunited you with the one guy you thought was dead and you're not having fun?"

"Well, it's just..." Emi groaned. "I wouldn't call that fun. I'm happy that he's here sure, but I'm not having fun."

"So do you want to have fun?"

"How?" Emi asked.

"You know what, never mind." Maou said. "Your cup isn't on my taste anyway."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

That managed to trigger Emi's berserk mode. Maou knew exactly the kind of reaction that she'll have and he got exactly the right material and the drive for her to chase him around that small apartment room around that small table. Hopefully the tea and the hot kettle didn't fall down throughout this reenactment of the Benny Hill Show.


	14. The General Dates with a Coworker

Shirou Ashiya was going to be one of the luckiest person on Earth. Rika was a beautiful, easy going girl. However, he cannot believe such thoughts unless if she actually bring him out. The carnival at night was one of the best places to go around. He had never went into a carnival once. He cannot understand how would humans enjoy this sort of thing. However, if there was one thing that he wanted right now is that he can have fun with Rika and Rika could have fun with him, no matter how much he cannot comprehend how this would be fun.

"I never went into a carnival before." Ashiya said.

"Really?" Rika said.

"Well, I was too busy of work." Ashiya said. "And uh... I lived in an orphanage with Maou and we barely got a chance to go there."

"Oww, that's sad." Rika said. "Do you know your parents?"

"No, I don't." Ashiya said. "I don't even know Maou's parents. I guess we just sort of exist to get thrown off of this world. Nobody wants to take responsibility of me."

"At least I'm glad that someone is there for you." Rika said. "And I'm glad that you can rise yourself above and beyond into that position."

"I... sometimes regret that choice." Ashiya said. "I had to be the manager of a really big company and in return, I have to make sacrifices. I hate it when there's no third option. I have to make sacrifice or else this company would not work. That sacrifice cost thousands of people's jobs and career potential. Even I had to fire some of my most trusted employees."

"And Emi's father was one of them?"

"Yes." Ashiya said. "He's a casualty of the war that I started, but I didn't even want to start it. I've had people whom I've fired and they instead put themselves on the Yakuza front. Maybe they've been looking for where Maou and I went on and decided to take revenge."

"I don't understand why they have to do that." Rika said. "You made a hard business decision. I don't know how it feels like to be in your position, but I know that it must be hard."

"It's hard." Ashiya said. "Well, I'm sorry that I have to start this with my depressing story. I didn't mean to."

"Hey, we're just getting started Ashiya-kun." Rika said. "The reason why we're here is to forget all the bad things and responsibilities around the world. Let's say screw that for a while and have fun."

"Well, I don't really know where to begin having fun here." Ashiya said.

"Don't worry. I'll show you around." Rika said. "Just follow me."

They arrived at the said carnival. The first thing that Ashiya noticed was the lights illuminating rainbow colors in various degrees. It made his eyes to glitter with hundreds of lighting flares that he cannot make sense of what the true colors were. He could notice the Sasazuka Carnival sign brightly lit on the distance. The time was barely 18:00 and the carnival was already crowded. It was said to be open until 23:00, which meant that they had to pick their games carefully.

Throughout this time, Rika was grabbing Ashiya's hand. Her soft and warm hand got in touch with him as they went along the carnival. It made him to really question reality. It was so strange to get this much acceptance from humans, let alone from a female and a beautiful one. The tales that he read from the many books considered the women to be the most dangerous humans that has ever walked on this planet. The effect of a simple grab in the hand has defeated every demon general side of him, putting aside all the hate and letting his feelings come into play.

He wondered what Maou-sama do on his date with Emi.

##

"APOLOGIZE FOR THAT!" Emi shouted to Maou, who was on the other side of the floor table and blocking his way on trying to escape.

"Apologize for what? I'm telling you the truth!" Maou circled around the table, waiting for Emi to charge in. "Your cup is only worthy of C at best!"

"I'm going to send you to hell!" Emi said.

"Oh my god, you sound like that crazy cat lady who owns that baking company." Maou said.

Emi froze. She gathered in a couple of thoughts, but Maou ran away from the table and into the exit door. Emi jumped off the small table and launched herself towards Maou, finally crushing him with her own body. Maou fell down the floor with Emi at his top and his chest on the floor. Emi pinned him down the floor, not letting him escape.

"Got you!" Emi said. "You're not going to get away from me!"

"Oww, don't get too hard, Emi!" Maou said.

"Say you're sorry!" Emi said. "Say you're sorry!"

At that moment, Emi was at the top and Maou was glancing right up towards her. She was struggling to get his hands to just stay put on the ground. So she grabbed both of it and made sure that his body don't go anywhere.

"I'm home!"

That's when Hitoshi and Tsubasa popped up just right across the room. As he opened the door up and announcing his welcome, both Maou and Emi stopped their actions and glanced back at Hitoshi, who looked at them with a pretty wide eye and tons of speculations circulating inside his head.

"Well," Hitoshi said. "You're... having fun."

"What?!" Emi said. "This jerk just said that my boobs are small!"

"Did that insult your femininity or something?" Maou said. "Face it, Emi. You're about as feminine as a drill sergeant."

Hitoshi actually giggled. Tsubasa scoffed and covered her mouth, trying to let her go.

"Dad, this guy just insulted me right in front of you and you're laughing?" Emi said.

"I'm actually amazed that someone is there to insult you at all." Hitoshi said. "And I'm glad you're having fun."

"I'm not having fun." Emi stood up from the whole position. "I'm really annoyed and really angry."

"Angry about your A-cup angst."

Emi downright stomped Maou right up his balls, causing him to groan uncontrollably.

"Big sister is strong." Tsubasa said.

"Emi, get off of him." Hitoshi said. "The Devil lost to your battle and yet you're offended by his words? Come on. My daughter is a lot stronger than that."

Emi groaned. "Fine."

##

There was more things that are more important than thinking about Maou-sama right now. The date was going on really well. Ashiya wasn't even sure why he deserved someone like Rika. He was had done some of the worst, most deplorable things as a demon general, and yet he still get the girl. Some of the highlights of the date highlighted how he enjoyed his company with her.

The first one was dart throwing.

"Dart throwing?" Ashiya said.

"Do you think you can do that?"

"Well, why don't you try it?" Ashiya said. "Ladies first."

Rika smiled, eyebrows challenging Ashiya with bravery. "Alright."

Rika proceed to grab one of the darts. She swung it in the back and threw it into the dart board. It managed to hit 19 Treble, giving Rika 57 points just when the game even began.

"Nice throw!" Ashiya said.

"What can I say? I'm good at this." Rika said. "Your turn."

Ashiya took one of the darts. He threw it right into the board and he scored 12 Single, just barely going near the bulls eye. Ashiya giggled.

"Okay, that throw you had there was lucky." Ashiya said.

"Lucky, huh?" Rika said. "Let's test that theory."

Rika took another dart and throw it once again. This time, it hit a 1 single, total 58 points.

"Ouch." Ashiya said. "Just one? sorry about that."

"Don't worry, Ashiya-kun. I was just giving you a break." Rika said. "Try scoring something bigger."

"I'm aiming for bulls eye." Ashiya said. "I'm not going to lose to you!"

Rika giggled, still had her hands crossed. Ashiya grabbed another dart. This time, with precise calculation and controlled breathing, Ashiya swung his hand back. He threw the dart all the way across, hoping to finally get into that 50 point center. And what did he hit? Bulls eye... the outer one.

"ALMOST!" Ashiya said.

"Almost there, Ashiya-kun." Rika said. "37 points? You're catching up."

"You're going to give me a break again?"

Rika smiled. "I will."

She threw another dart. Somehow, just somehow, she was able to hit bulls eye. _Actual_ bulls eye, giving her 50 points with the total of 108 points in the first three throws of the game. Ashiya froze still.

"Oops." Rika said. "Sorry. I think I slipped."

Rika had the most innocent smile saying it. Normally, if Maou was the one throwing the said dart, he would be furious. But Rika was naturally inclined to do all of this. Her throwing skills are so accurate it's almost deadly. Her weapon might not be the most dangerous in the world, but shoot it at the vital points and it's going to kill anyone in a matter of seconds. It was just like how her innocence and smile managed to go deep into Ashiya, hitting him right on his most vulnerable parts.

After that, they went into various other games. Thankfully, this carnival went on so much better for both of them. Rika had her fair shares of shameful behaviors. Since Ashiya's demonic powers gave him abilities to fly, he was used to the aerodynamics and the flow of air. However, Rika could not take it and just barf out most of her content right outside of the Roller Coaster.

Ashiya had to comfort her for that, grabbing her back as she struggled to puke on a nearby barf bag.

"I'm fine." Rika groaned. "I guess I'm not used to this sort of thing anymore. I'm not going through the Roller Coaster again."

"Sorry about that." Ashiya said.

"You said that you haven't been through carnivals." Rika said. "And yet you didn't puke at the roller coaster."

"I have to admit that was a bit thrilling." Ashiya said. "But it wasn't too bad."

"Ah well." Rika said. "I'm not riding again."

"I want to go to the bathroom." Ashiya said. "Wait in here for a minute."

"Oh yeah, sure."

##

After doing a little bit of business, Ashiya went out of the bathroom. However, out of the bathroom stall that he was in, there was a man waiting at him with his hands crossed. It was a man with a short hair and a hoodie. He was expecting someone else a lot more menacing, but alas. It was him who arrived, and he did not prepare himself to be.

"You!" Ashiya said.

"Hello, General Alciel."

Ashiya widened his eyes. The brilliant and ruthless tactician Gabriel managed to find him just right there. However, he was able to steady his pace and took a deep breath. He could handle this man just like he could handle any other man. Hopefully he wasn't too far gone.

"Just a question." Ashiya said. "Did you actually follow me all the way into the bathroom?"

"Yes." Gabriel said.

"Don't you think that sounds strange?"

"Don't you question my intelligence, General." Gabriel said. "The one person that I should question is you. What are you going to do with that woman?"

"Hey, you're misinterpreting things here." Ashiya said. "I won't do anything to her. I'm just having a date."

"Lies!" Gabriel said, pointing his finger towards him. "There is absolutely no word that you can utter to convince me of such lies! You have no position to judge in here, but you have made a fatal mistake."

"Mistake?" Ashiya said. "What mistake?"

"You let that lady out in the open." Gabriel said. "I managed to save her out while you were inside that bathroom stall doing your business."

"What?" Ashiya said. "What are you going to do with her?"

"She's going to be safe away from you."

Gabriel snapped a finger. That's when two police officers came out of two bathroom stall. The said police officers were pointing guns right at Ashiya, and all that he could do is to raise his hands back.

"Hands up!"

Ashiya did so, slowly raising his hands up to comply with the one authority figure he cannot fight. Gabriel was smiling in delight of his victory, even though this entire situation could only make things worse for him.

"Gabriel," Ashiya said. "You're mistaken! Don't do this! Did you brainwash these two cops to do your bidding?!"

"I would rather brainwash these people first before you do."

"I don't even want to brainwash them!" Ashiya said. "I'm not here to take over the world. Don't you see? If Maou-sama is not going to take over the world, then I'm not going to. I'll follow him and his orders."

"We shall see about that."

"About what?"

The two cops went towards Ashiya and handcuffed him. Ashiya didn't resist, knowing that this would only make things worse.

"I have no use for the Demon General." Gabriel said. "As soon as Maou shows his face, I'm going to kill him. After that, I will most definitely kill you."

"You're not going to."

"I will." Gabriel said. "The demons who plagued Ente Isla might be gone forever, but the ones who plagued Earth is in my hands, and I'm going to kill them both."


	15. The Devil Fought the Law

C15: The Devil Fought the Law and...

The date was going on really well. It was all despite the puking and the discomfort of the entire situation. Dates could get uncomfortable once in a while and Rika definitely knew that. But all of this cute and innocent date was all multiplied thanks to Ashiya getting called by the police. However, as much as she trusted the police there was definitely something wrong in the way they said their words.

She was taking a seat on a nearby police outpost. She was on the Hataragi branch and she wasn't very sure why something like this happened. Why would the police take her here in this small outpost? She was sitting on the waiting room waiting for answers, but no police officers dare to answer her question.

"What is going on?" Rika asked. "Why am I here? What am I supposed to do here?"

"I'm told to not answer any question until our superior comes." one police officer said.

"Superior?" Rika said. "Can you tell this superior that he got the wrong person? Ashiya-kun hasn't done anything wrong."

"Actually he has."

A man stepped in. He was merely using a leather jacket and a white T-shirt and a bizarre white hair for a young man like him. Not really sure how someone would get a hair like that (and Ashiya for that matter). But then again Emi said that her red hair was natural, almost if one of her parents is a fallen angel or something.

"Who are you?" Rika asked.

"I am someone of relevance, a hero from a distant land." he said. "I'm the hero Gabriel."

"Hero?" Rika said. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you know the person that you were dating with is an incredibly violent man?" Gabriel said. "He has killed millions of people. He has his own demon army to unleash to this world."

"What are you talking about?" Rika said.

"I'm going to show you something that you probably would not believe." Gabriel said. "It can only be shown in magic. I will show you."

For some reason, Gabriel waved his arm right in front of him. Perhaps this was to prove that his magic did exist, but maybe he was either retarded or just downright delusional. Rika could only stare at him in confusion as he awkwardly fumble with his hands.

"I..." Gabriel said. "I can show you magic. Don't worry."

"Jeez, if you're going to show magic to me, you don't have to kidnap me right here." Rika said. "You're not even showing magic at all. Now where is Ashiya?"

Gabriel groaned, stopping his attempts on getting magic out of him.

"You don't have to worry about him!" Gabriel said. "Of all the people you're concerned about, why him?"

"Because he's my date, duh!" Rika said. "I came in here specifically to have a date with him. He went on the toilet, and now he got caught by the police for doing... what exactly? Can you tell me what did he do?"

"He has killed several people on his life." Gabriel said. "This man is an abhorrence, an insult to the decency of mankind. He has to be terminated."

"Terminated?" Rika said. "What do you mean terminated? Why?"

"Because he's the Devil's General."

"The..." Rika scoffed. "The... what?"

"He's the Devil's General." Gabriel said. "He has lived on a land far away from here. The land is named Ente Isla. It was a place where there's an ongoing war between the demons and the angels. He's the General who ordered an army of demons to slaughter innocents."

Rika giggled. "Okay, whatever kind of fantastical paranoid delusion that you have, it's no excuse for bringing me here without reason-"

"It's not a delusion!" Gabriel said. "You haven't seen and witnessed these atrocities yourself! You have no idea how much power that he has right inside of him. He's going to take advantage of your human emotions so that he can further his cause on taking over the world."

"What?!" Rika said. "Please tell me that you are serious when you're saying this."

"Yes, I'm serious!"

"I can't believe that the police officers actually hired you." Rika said. "You're a paranoid delusional man who thinks that Ente Isla is this weird magical island from another dimension. Do you truly believe that Ashiya was firing those men because he wanted to?"

"Fire those men?" Gabriel said. "He didn't fire them. He _killed_ them!"

"Wait, what?" Rika said, still not taking this in any degree of seriousness.

"He killed all of them out right. He wouldn't care for one single soul." Gabriel said. "You have to believe me, ma'am or else, both of us are going to pay for the price."

Rika scoffed. She couldn't possibly believe that a man like this exist. This man was so paranoid and delusional that his rival boss is some guy from the outer dimension trying to take over the world. Well, if what Ashiya said about his real-life corporation is true, then he _did_ take over the world and claim it for his own. Sadly, he had to make sacrifices of that.

"I don't care." Rika said

"What?"

"I don't care about your past endeavors and business with Ashiya." Rika said. "I don't care if you call it the slaughter of innocents or something. You have to be so glad that you're working with the police right now and your actual superiors didn't fire you for abusing your powers. Now stop lying to me and just bring me to him right now!"

Gabriel stepped back for a moment before realizing something. "Oh... no..."

"What?!" Rika said. "What's going on?"

"There's no use convincing you." Gabriel said. "You have been influenced by his charm. You're trying to convince me that he doesn't do anything."

"Well, he hasn't done anything wrong." Rika said. "I mean can't you just let him go?"

"Never!" Gabriel said. "As long as he's inside that prison, I will never let him go. In fact, I think you're too far off. Send her into the room with him."

"WHAT?!" Rika shouted as she stood up. "Why? On what basis? What have I done?"

Rika was met with two police officers grabbing her arms.

"Hey!" Rika shouted. "Let me go! I haven't done anything wrong! What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry." Gabriel said. "There's no saving you. You're going to stay."

##

It's been quite the night. Maou was just glad that he could give Emi a surprise. His goal at that time was just to make sure that Emi had a good time and that she's happy. Annoying the living crap out of her was perhaps fun only right to him, but she was probably enjoying herself kicking his balls. On the way back to MgRonald's, they have an interesting conversation.

"I think I will consider castration." Maou said. "Damn. All of that battles could've ended if I just stab the mere mortals right in their crotch."

"Think about slaughtering people and I'll be there to slaughter you." Emi said. "Wait, did you just consider castrating yourself?"

"Hey, if it prevents me from getting hurt right here, I'll do it." Maou said. "What the hell is this thing for anyway?"

"You know that's a human reproduction organ, right?" Emi said. "Come on Maou. You're dense, but I know that you're not _this_ dense. Besides, castrating yourself is going to be really expensive, and trust me. It hurts."

"Well, never mind then." Maou said. "Wait, how do you know that it hurts?"

Emi blushed. "I... read some articles."

"Articles about genital mutilation?"

"It's not that I want to anyway!" Emi said. "My boss made an inappropriate PSA over it. I think he's crazy. I mean why would he do that?"

"Because he wants to raise awareness?"

"Yeah, but can he raise awareness to something that isn't... gross?"

"That makes me wonder." Maou said. "If I did use this thing to reproduce with someone, is my baby going to have devil powers?"

"I'm not going to let you do that. Ever." Emi said.

"Well, same thing to you Emi." Maou said. "You're half-angel. So if you somehow have a boyfriend who appreciates your flat chest, you're going to make-"

Emi straight up choked Maou in the middle of the road, completely stopping their walk.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Maou said.

Emi released the choke. She followed it with an incredibly annoyed sigh, which caused a small grin in Maou's face.

"Anyway, you're welcome." Maou said.

"For what?"

"For bringing your dad back to life."

"Wait," Emi said. "You _literally_ did?"

"No! That's just... an expression." Maou said. "And thank you."

"For what again?"

"For showing me how important it is to be compassionate." Maou said. "I never thought that compassion, generally being nice, and even smiling and being happy actually feels good."

"Does those 'happy' feels has something to do with commenting on my flat chest again?"

"No, not really." Maou said. "Okay maybe a bit, but that's not the point. I don't know and I don't care about what you think about what we were doing last time, but I'm very happy that you're happy."

"That's a weird way to phrase it." Emi said.

"No really." Maou said. "I'm just... glad that I can take you there and have you enjoy yourself, even if you don't think that you're enjoying yourself."

"How can I enjoy myself if you keep teasing me like that?"

"Well, I'm not going to let you have all the fun, am I?"

Emi sighed. "Of course. You're the devil. Your job is to torment the one Hero who tries to save this entire world."

"But I didn't, did I?"

"Yes... and no, actually." Emi said. "Maou, what you did, meeting me again with my dad, I've never had someone do something that kind, not even Rika. I don't have so many friends back in that war, at least not the ones that would actually go this far."

"Is resurrection spells wrong?"

"If there is such a thing, it would be a very taboo subject." Emi said. "I'm not up to resurrect the dead. The last thing I want is to have zombies around me."

"Is your dad a zombie?"

"Well no, at least he doesn't look like one." Emi said. "Anyway, I guess I've taken you this far."

Maou didn't realize that their walk just got them to MgRonald's where they met last time. Since MgRonald's is open for 24 hours, the bright light from the inside was certainly still there. There were definitely less customers in mid night, but some college students who got up late for their assignments went in to borrow the Wi-Fi.

"I'm surprised that there are still a few people in the night." Emi said. "It's like ten."

"Actually, I'm surprised that our little date can get this long." Maou said.

"You're still thinking that this is a date?" Emi said.

"Well, let's just assume that it is." Maou said. "Is it a good date?"

"It's... well..." Emi said. "I wouldn't say it's a good date, but I can definitely say that I'm having a good time."

"Well, I'm glad that you are." Maou said, smiling. "Well, I got to go. I don't really have a shift tomorrow. So if you need me, I'd be visiting Chiho. I'm hoping that she's okay."

"See you."

Maou went up his bike to ride it. Before he could swing his first cycle, Emi called him back for another equally important question.

"Hey Maou," Emi said. "You know what, if you're visiting Chiho, can you call me as well?"

"Oh sure." Maou said. "Definitely. I'll let you know."

Emi smiled. She let off the Devil to go back into his castle. Turns out that the bad wasn't bad of a person after all. Hopefully, Rika's date went just as well as their 'date' together.

If there's one thing that she learned today is that even if she didn't call this one a date, something that _is_ a date could've turned a hell of a lot worse.


	16. And The Law Won

C16: The Law Won?

The two cops brought Rika right into the prison. The police station got darker as they got deeper and deeper. Surprisingly enough, there wasn't a lot of juvenile delinquents to store, perhaps noticeably because Sasazuka and Hataragi weren't really crime-ridden for the past couple of months. It was quite surprising that there was a bank robbery after all, and then there was the nightmare and the moon suddenly becoming big.

These strange phenomenon occurred at times where things have gone completely crazy. Perhaps it all started when Emi came into the mix, but she didn't want to put the blame on someone as innocent and playful as her. Who to blame for this entire incident? Was it perhaps that person who was so incredibly delusional who think that someone like Ashiya is the literal devil? Or perhaps was it Ashiya himself? She was doubtful that Ashiya was the kind of person who would put delusions above reason, and she was doubtful that he would do anything remotely horrible.

"Rika!" Ashiya shouted. "Rika!"

"Ashiya!" Rika shouted. "What's going on? What the hell is happening!"

The two police officers opened a prison door containing Ashiya inside. The prison thankfully wasn't as disgusting as she expected. Sure, the walls were painted with stuff and about as old as artifacts, but the two-story bed looked comfortable enough. She was remotely surprised that the room was designed to be as clean as possible. Why would someone give them this sorts of privilege?

"Get in." one officer said. "Think about what you did."

"What I did?" Rika said. "I didn't do anything! Hey!"

Rika was pushed down into the same cell as Ashiya. The moment she was thrown in, the guards already got the door shut and locked. Rika went there to budge the door out, but it was already locked in. She bashed in the door a couple of times, screaming out and shrieking for the cops to come in.

"Hey!" Rika said. "Let me out of here! What do you want from me? Hey!"

However, Ashiya pulled her away from the door. He struggled his hardest to get her out of there as soon as possible before she hurt her hands on budging the hard iron more.

"Just let it go, Rika." Ashiya pulled her back. "It's not their fault."

"What's going on, Ashiya?!" Rika broke into tears, hugging Ashiya. "What the hell is going on? I'm scared!"

"It's fine." Ashiya said. "It's going to be just fine."

"I don't want to stay in here!" Rika said. "Why should I be here anyway? I didn't do anything, right?"

"It's my fault." Ashiya said. "It's completely my fault."

"What?"

"Let's just... calm down for a second, okay?" Ashiya said. "Let's just sit down for a second. We'll talk about it."

"I don't know what's going on, Ashiya-kun." Rika said.

"Neither am I, but I think I know why we're here." Ashiya said. "Let's just sit down and talk about it for a minute, okay?"

"Okay."

##

It was just pass 11:30. Ashiya should be home right away at this moment. Thankfully Hitoshi was kind enough to give him something to eat. He was still human after all. The Devil had gotten enough good time with the hero, something that he never thought possible let alone a date with her. He was surprised that the thought of killing the hero's father did not cross his mind. Perhaps that devil side of him was suppressed for his own release.

He was hoping that no such nightmares like the last time come into him.

"I'm home."

Maou opened the door, only to find an unusual guest. Urushihara put the room in dark. The only illumination that he got was the screen of his laptop, shining really bright on the two characters. Right beside him was Suzuno, clutching him on his side. There was definitely something that they watched on the laptop. It looked like some sort of a monster movie, an American remake of an old _kaijuu_ movie.

"Welcome home, Sadao-dono." Suzuno said.

"Uh..." Maou said. "Why didn't you turn the lights on?"

"We're watching a movie." Urushihara said, still focused on the movie.

"Oh I see." Maou said. "So are you done with it?"

"Nope, not yet." Urushihara said.

"Where's Ashiya?"

"He hasn't been home." Suzuno said. "We were just trying to call him."

"So do you know where he is right now?"

"I guess we'll finish the film up later, Suzuno-san." Urushihara said.

"Okay." Suzuno nodded.

Urushihara went into the laptop closer while Suzuno went out of the way, letting Urushihara to do some duties on his computer. He opened up some application inside the laptop. The application was some sort of a tracker.

"Wait, what?" Maou said. "Did you buy another tracker again?"

"Relax. This isn't a tracker." Urushihara said. "The last thing I want to do is to piss you off even more."

"Then what the hell is that?"

"I read some instructions in how to ping a phone and track their address." Urushihara said. "I'm doing it for Ashiya."

"Why not just call him?"

"We tried to call him a couple of times." Suzuno said. "He didn't reply. I'm not so sure what's going on."

"How about Rika?"

"Apparently only Ashiya has his phone number." Urushihara said.

"Well, I'm hoping that he's on the way." Maou said. "I'm going to call Emi, see if she can give me her phone number."

Maou did exactly that and called in Emi. He was hoping that nothing is completely wrong around here.

"Hey Emi," Maou said.

 _"Maou,"_ Emi said. _"I'm surprised that you're going to call this soon."_

"Listen, something's happening." Maou said. "Ashiya is not home yet and it's just close to ten. I tried to call him but he didn't respond. Do you have Rika's phone number?"

 _"I'll call her."_ Emi said. _"I thought Urushihara has the bad habit of planting tracker everywhere?"_

"He got a much cheaper solution." Maou said. "Just text me the message and see if we can find out where they are."

 _"Alright."_ Emi said. _"I'll send you the number. Just don't mess up around with that."_

Immediately, Maou received the phone number for Rika. He went in to Urushihara to check on his progress on finding out where Ashiya really is.

"Anything?" Maou asked.

"That's weird." Urushihara said. "I just pinged on Ashiya's phone and it looks like he's in the police station."

"Police station?" Maou said. "Wait, what is he doing there?"

"Beats me."

"Can you track down Rika's phone?" Maou said. "Here's her phone number."

"Alright." Urushihara typed in the phone number and gave his conclusion. "It appears that they're both in the police station but refuse to return the calls."

"I need to call Emi." Maou said. "I'm really hoping that they're not in trouble. Urushihara, can you watch me over that?"

"Sure." Urushihara said.

"And Suzuno, stay here with him." Maou said. "I'm going to the police station."

"Of course, Sadao-dono."

Maou went out of his apartment and immediately went downstairs. He closed his phone call with Emi, but this is a huge emergency situation that needed her attention so badly. As he ran towards the main streets looking for a taxi, he called Emi off to do something.

"Emi," Maou said.

 _"Did you find them?"_

"Yeah." Maou said. "They're both in the police station."

 _"What?"_ Emi said. _"Wait, why are they there?"_

"I don't know, but I don't think it's good." Maou said. "Meet me in the police station."

 _"Police station?"_ Emi said. _"What the hell is going on? Why are they there?"_

"Just go in there, okay?" Maou said. "I'll meet you there."

##

Ashiya didn't know what to tell to someone like Rika. She was too innocent to know something like that.

"Ashiya," Rika said. "Who is he?"

"His name is Gabriel." Ashiya said. "He was a competitor, a rival of my business."

"What kind of business, exactly?" Rika asked. "What does he mean about killing people? When you say fire, do you mean like, literally firing them with guns?"

"What?"

"Tell me the truth." Rika said. "Were you once a part of an organized crime?"

Ashiya widened his eyes. Perhaps he didn't really have to make excuses. Rika already gave the answer. He didn't really have to really show that he's a demon from another dimension. There was nothing that could stop him or prevent him from saying otherwise. She needed to be told.

"Yes, but I can't really say that." Ashiya said. "I... don't want to scare you. I've made mistakes that I regret, and organized crime is one of them."

"So you _were_ once a part of them." Rika said. "That real estate business was just a cover up."

"Yes."

"And you have committed atrocities more than just firing someone from a job?" Rika asked. "You actually have to kill people?"

"Yes." Ashiya said. "But just so you know, it's something that I don't want to remember, and it's something that you don't need to know."

"I can't trust you if you're keeping secrets from me, Ashiya." Rika said. "And Emi, her father, is he one of the casualties? Is she the reason why she's coming to you?"

"Casualties?" Ashiya said. "I guess you can say that."

"So _that's_ why she doesn't want to say it!" Rika said. "How come both of you go hand in hand so peacefully?"

"Maybe because we both moved on." Ashiya said. "Emi came into our office and showed how capable she is to just topple our whole world down. She was one of the most brilliant enemies that we have ever faced, and we never underestimated her even to this day."

"How can you both get along so well?"

"Truth be told, we don't." Ashiya said. "I'm sorry that I have to say this, Rika. And I'm sorry that you have to find out about the truth this way."

There was only one bed. Ashiya was sitting on the floor, letting Rika to sleep on it because she didn't deserve any of this. The only person who deserve pain is Ashiya, and that is for the mistakes that he made. Even though that wasn't really the story, it was about as equally as horrible.

"Rika," Ashiya said. "Just so you know that I'm not doing that anymore. Gabriel is a detective who just cannot move on from past lives. I'm not entirely in the wrong here."

"Don't say anything."

Ashiya shut his mouth up. He couldn't let Rika to shed any more tears after more lies that he told.

"Okay." Ashiya said. "Just one more word, okay?"

"What?"

"I'm..." Ashiya said. "I'm sorry."

##

Maou was waiting right in front of the police station. Honestly, if Emi wasn't really going in there for him, at least she's going in there for Rika. She's her friend after all, and she's not going to let someone like her to be in danger.

Not a few moments later, a taxi stopped right in front of the police station. And of course, Emi was just right in there. She went out of the said taxi to get right outside of the police station. He was hoping that his assumptions are not true. If it is, then it would be unfortunate for both of them.

"Maou-san." Emi said. "What's going on? Why are we here?"

"I don't know."

Maou and Emi entered the police station. It was strangely crowded with officers that night, despite being almost eleven in the night.

"You don't know?" Emi said.

"I'm seriously expecting the worst now."

"The worst?"

"Welcome."

He really shouldn't have even thought about him, and there he is. He appeared right among the police officers with his smug short white hair and a bulletproof armor probably stolen from the office.

"Gabriel!" Maou shouted. "What have you done?"

"I told you to get away from this?" Emi said. "Where is Rika?"

"She is safe." Gabriel said. "She is unfortunately under some form of influence given by the General. I cannot allow humans like him to roam around like that, so I'm forced to bring her into the cell with him."

"What?" Maou shouted.

"You brought Rika into jail?" Emi shouted. "Why? She doesn't do anything!"

"She appears to have conformed herself with the General." Gabriel said. "You need to understand. My actions are necessary."

"Your actions involve an innocent woman!" Emi said. "I will not let you abuse your power in risk of another innocent life!"

"You have no rights to order me when you're coming here with Satan himself." Gabriel said. "It seems that my presumptions are correct. You _have_ allied yourself with the devil. I have no choice but to take you down as well."

He snapped his fingers. That's when police officers around him surround both of them with guns. They attempted to run into the exit door just a few feet away, but other police officers were already there, aiming their guns and freezing their movement.

"Gabriel," Emi said. "Don't do this."

"You give me no choice." Gabriel said. "Prepare to meet your demise."


	17. The Devil's Other Escape

C17: The Devil's Other Escape

Surrounded with police officers, it seemed like the only option that Maou can do is to talk his way out. Gabriel is a brilliant tactician indeed, but he was not invulnerable to politics. He could talk his way out of this, hoping to actually get some result.

"Hey," Maou said. "Are you really going to shoot both of us?"

"You will not convince me otherwise." Gabriel said. "I will shoot you both. You have paid your crimes by death, and Emilia died a hero during the fight."

"Wait," Emi said. "So you're still going to give me credit even after I betrayed you?"

"You are better remembered as a hero, Emi." Gabriel said. "I'm not a bad person."

"Said a guy who hypnotized a couple of would-be bank robbers and forced them to shoot themselves in the head." Maou said.

"Said a guy who shot a villa and injuring a minor." Emi continued.

"Said a guy who hypnotized the _entire_ police department with little to no magic left just to commit a crime to an innocent being." Maou said.

"Said a guy who put a perfectly innocent woman to jail because of delusions." Emi said.

"Shut up!" Gabriel said. "You have no right to judge me! You have forced me to commit those atrocities."

"Oh no. Not again." Maou said.

"What?"

"You're shifting the blame again." Maou said. "You just committed something completely unheroic in order to justify your horrible actions. I have the rights to judge what you do because I'm the Devil, and what you're doing is something that I would've done when I'm in Ente Isla."

"And I'm the hero who drove the devil out of Ente Isla." Emi said. "If you think that I have no authority to judge you on who you are, then you are wrong. If you think that you're able to use our actions as justifications of your equally horrible ones, then you are wrong."

"I am not blaming anyone for this!"

"You are delusional, Gabriel!" Maou said. "Look around you! The only person who's picking up a fight is you and you alone. No matter how much effort and magic you wasted on these police officers, we're not going to fight you or even start a fight with you."

"Most importantly," Emi continued. "If you're going to let the lives of innocent people ahead of our business, I will not hesitate to put you down. So please do something heroic for once and bring Rika here right now!"

The room was drenched in silence. Either Gabriel cannot reply to their terms, or he simply have to admit defeat. The delusions of one crazy man who has way too much power on his hand has gone too far, and it's up to the Hero and the Devil to stop him once and for all.

"It is strange." Gabriel said.

"What is?" Emi asked.

"You both delivered your points so fluidly to complement each other." Gabriel said. "Perhaps the term 'friend' is a bit of an understatement."

Emi blushed. "I... what the hell are you implying?!"

"I think you know what." Gabriel said, sighing. "In that case, I will not accept you as an ally anymore. You will be remembered as an enemy of the Church."

"Damn the Church." Emi said. "Olba betrayed humanity for his own selfish reasons. If you're going to shoot us, at least answer our question."

Gabriel bit his lips. "Okay, one question."

"Why did you attack the Devil?"

"Why did you attack me?"

They both said it at the same time, causing them to glance at each other in awkwardness.

"I went in first!" Emi said.

"Hey, you're not even the one who's going to get attacked here." Maou said. "I get to ask the questions."

"I'm not going to let you ask stupid questions!" Emi said. "I'm not going to let you waste one chance of a lifetime."

"One chance of a lifetime?" Maou said. "Do you really believe that we're going to die after the shots?" 

"Of course we're going to die!" Emi said. "Have you ever actually _see_ yourself dying when Lucifer shot you?"

"Lucifer?!"

Gabriel noticed them saying the name, causing them to stop whatever the hell they were arguing last time.

"Lucifer is here too?" Gabriel said.

"Yeah." Maou said. "Why?"

Gabriel sighed. "I suppose we shouldn't waste any more time."

"Ethereal Light!"

Emi shouted her magic spell that caused a bright light towards the entire room. This magic was enough to blind pretty much everyone inside. Thanks to the blinding light, Maou blocked his eyes out. Emi grabbed Maou's hands and pulled him out of the way, making their way out inside the Police Station trying to find the jail.

After making out of the group of police officers completely unharmed, Maou

"Maou," Emi said. "Please tell me you remember the routes."

"What?" Maou said. "Oh uh... yeah I do."

"Where's the prison area?"

"Right here."

##

For some reason, the alarm rang throughout the whole building. Buzzards and red lights were blinking and blinking. Ashiya and Rika glanced over at the weird atmosphere and couldn't help but to feel something threatening was going on outside.

"What's going on?" Rika said.

"I don't know." Ashiya said. "There has to be something wrong outside."

"Don't tell me that you have your Yakuza buddies to come to rescue you and kill a bunch of cops in the way."

"Actually, it's a lot more than Yakuza buddies."

Ashiya pointed Rika out to the presence of a familiar friend. Emi was in the door entering the holding cells. All he needed was to signal her that he's here.

"Emi!"

Emi turned her face around towards Ashiya. It worked. She recognized the call and she didn't think twice on Just him calling her name caught Rika's interested. She went on straight to the holding cells and grabbed on the irons trying to look at her red-haired friend. When she noticed her, she couldn't help but to squeal for her help.

"Emi!" Rika shouted. "Emi! Get me out of here!"

Emi went in closer towards them right on the cell. "Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, we're alright." Ashiya said.

"I'll be alright if you just let us out of here!" Rika said.

"Okay Rika, calm down." Emi said. "Just stand back for a moment. I'll open this door."

Just when Emi was about to budge the door out, she glanced at Ashiya back and ordered something to him.

"Ashiya," Emi said. "Come here."

Ashiya went in closer to Emi.

"Did she know about us?" Emi said. "Did she know where we came from?"

"I'm sure that Gabriel told her about it." Ashiya said. "I doubt that she believed it though."

"I don't know where the locks on these doors are." Emi said. "So I can't open it unless-"

"Emi!"

Maou shouted right on the outside. That's when he threw a keyring towards her. Emi caught it in reflex and immediately went on to the locks, but Maou shouted towards her again.

"We got company here." Maou said. "I'm going to need your help."

"Can you just deal with them yourself?"

"I'm not the only one trained in hand-to-hand combat, am I?" Maou shouted. "Emi, hurry up!"

Emi sighed and stopped her lock budging. She released the keys out of the keyhole and gave it to Ashiya.

"You get yourself out of here." Emi said. "Don't get out of this room unless I tell you too."

"I got it." Ashiya said.

"Wait, wait," Rika said. "Emi, how can you get in here? Why are you here?"

"I was looking for both of you actually, and I got caught in an even bigger mess than you guys think." Emi said. "Now get yourselves out of here. I'll be right back."

##

Maou stayed on the edge of the door. Emi came in

"What do we got?" Emi asked.

"A couple of guys in the hallway." Maou said. "Armed and dangerous, not like us here. How are you going to play this out?"

"I ran out of magic." Emi said. "It's going to take me minutes to do the ethereal light again."

"It's not that we're going to use that anyway."

"Do we have any weapons?"

"Well, your hand-to-hand combat is going to be handy this time." Maou said. "Have you been working out?"

"Yeah of course I am." Emi said. "I can't always use magic."

"So how are we going to do this?"

"First, let's try our best to not kill anybody okay?" Emi said. "These cops were brainwashed out of their will."

"I know." Maou said. "That makes all of this harder."

"So we're going to focus on escaping them one by one." Emi said. "If one of them noticed us, we knock them out and run like hell. If they don't know where we are, we kept sneaking until we get out."

"Good idea." Maou said.

"Maou-sama!"

Ashiya successfully went out of the cell. Maou glanced at his roommate and smiled.

"Ah great. You finally got out." Maou said. "Could use a little help with the fighting here."

"I'll do what I can."

"Wait," Rika said. "Why did you call him with the sama honorific?"

"Long story." Ashiya said. "So can we get out now?"

##

Maou opened the door and glanced outside. Nobody was in the hallway and as far as he knew, there was an exit door to the East. He went out to check in and nobody was there. He signalled the rest of the team to follow him on his back.

They're going to make a left turn. Maou went in closer to the side of the wall and peeked out of the corner. He was glad that nobody was in there and signalled the rest of the group to move on.

"Hey!"

While the hallway was clear, there was a police officer opening one of the doors. Emi was the one closest to him. As he extended his hand to aim his pistol, Emi grabbed his hand and throat, and slammed him into a wall. She kneed him on the stomach and slammed the back of his head into the wall.

However, one more police officer came in. Ashiya managed to get a hold on him first before he went in further. This time, he kneed his stomach first, then flipped him over his body and slamming his entire body on the floor, enough to knock him out.

Emi didn't finish with her police officer though. She made repeated punches on the chest before finally ending up with a jab on his lower jaw, knocking him out.

Maou was way too far ahead of them, and Rika could only stood there watching as the entire thing unfold.

"What the hell are you guys?" Rika asked.

"Really long story." Emi said. "You won't believe it if I tell you now."

"We got to go." Maou said. "The exit is just a few hallways from here. Just be glad that we only get two of those cops."

"There's got to be more on the bottom." Ashiya said. "There's also going to be more outside. Gabriel calculated all of this."

"So what, we're just going to fight them all?" Emi asked. "We can't win over them with that much."

"You're right." Maou said. "So let's just keep going, try to stay away from their line of sight, and we're good to go."

##

All this time, Gabriel was sitting on the front door waiting for any sorts of news coming from the SWAT team. He should've shot him right there. He could've ended an entire war by the virtue of him shooting his face. There's no point in which the Devil's existence cannot be tolerated. He simply needed to die.

"Sir," one SWAT member said. "We found two unconscious and a prison break."

"No signs of them?"

"None so far."

Gabriel knew that they would find ways to get out of there. If he were Maou, what would be the best course of action to take at this point? Where would he go to? What route would he take? Or perhaps it's a better decision to call this search off?

"Stop the search." Gabriel said. "We're done tonight. We're going to find him tomorrow and I know exactly where to find him."


End file.
